Corpse Party: Another Path
by WeirdRaptor
Summary: A group of students stayed late at school one night telling ghost stories. Little do they know that those harmless little tales are true and the reality far, far worse than they could ever have imagined. Soon, they are confronted with spectres right out of their worst nightnares. An alternate universe retelling of the original RPG Maker game Kedwin created.
1. Chapter 1

**Corpse Party: The Choices We Make**

_**Disclaimer:**_I do not own any _Corpse Party _related properties_._ It is the property of Team GrisGris and Makoto Kenouin. This is a fan work created to celebrate the opus. It is not intended to infringe on any copyrights.

_**Discription: **_This is an alternate retelling of the original Dante PC-98 game from 1996. At first it's going to start off the same (mostly) as the original, but some different things are going to happen along the way. There are also going to be a few elements of the rebooted series (i.e., _Blood Covered _(_…Repeating Fear_) and _Book of Shadows)_ of more current times and a few things from the various manga. I hope you enjoy.

**Chapter 1**

**Something Wicked**

Appropriately enough, it began on a dark and stormy night as these kinds of tales are wont to do. In a dark classroom at night, the rain rapped against the large windows. Lightning would briefly light up the nocturnal blanket that had fallen over the world. A group of students had all gathered together this night for one purpose. There were four of them, seated on the floor in a circle around a single candlestick that served as their only source of light.

"…Hey, have you heard about it?" the one seated at the 'head' of the circle asked.

"Hmm? About what?" another asked, curiously.

"About what happened at this school a long time ago? I'm talking, like, when it was still being built. You see, there was a girl, no older than us. She was hanging around on the third floor, when suddenly… CRACK! She fell, split her head wide open, and died!"

The candlelight flickered as if by design, getting their attention. The other three leaned in around the candle light, for it alone pierced the blackness that would have otherwise completely blanketed them.

"And, after that," the storyteller continued with a mischievous glint. "Do you know what happened next?"

"Um… Held a funeral and cremated her?" a girl sitting next to the teller suggested.

"Moved her onto the sidewalk so she wouldn't get in the way of their gym class?" a boy with bleached blonde hair said, smirking.

Then the two that had spoken up glanced towards their fourth member, who shivered in the dark and had his knees pulled up tightly against his body. He had his arms wrapped around his legs tightly. They both suppressed delighted snickers and returned their attention to the storyteller.

"Both wrong! After she'd cracked her skull open, everyone thought she was dead, but then…" the storyteller answered in a low voice.

"She sprang up!" the storyteller suddenly shouted. As she did, she suddenly leaned forward and stood up on her knees.

The sudden motion made the cowering one fall back with a squeak. The other two could barely contain themselves now, but they remained quiet and let the storyteller finish.

"She ran around, repeating 'More… More…' over and over!" the storyteller said intensely. "She crackled loudly…and then…"

She sat back down, giving an over-exaggerated shrug.

"She disappeared, but..." she bowed her head, allowing the candlelight to reflect brightly in her eyes.

The dramatic pause made the tension in the air palpable.

"Th-then what?" the other girl asked, desperate to know.

"She was gone, only leaving behind the top of her head and her blood… So I guess you could call her…missing…" the storyteller answered, menacingly.

"M-Missing?! You're jokin…-" the bleached blonde chuckled nervously.

The storyteller ignored him and instead directed her attention at the other boy and girl, leaning in close.

"They say she still wonders the halls chanting, 'More… Moooorrrre…'," her voice went deep and throaty. "And anyone who stays night at this school, just like us, will get a visit from her."

The cowering one cradled his chin in his knees, eyes wide with fear.

"We might even get a visitation from her, ourselves~…" The storyteller finished in a singsong tone.

BANG! All four students jumped backed in surprise and shock. BANG! BANG! BANG! The pounding on the door repeated. The bleached blonde took a couple of quick breaths before composing himself again and grinned.

"Who-who's that, Shinozaki?!" the other girl demanded.

"I…I don't know! I-i-it was only supposed to be a story!" Shinozaki stuttered, still reeling from being startled.

The bleached blonde boy suddenly laughed, causing Shinozaki to give him the stink.

"What's so funny, Kishinuma?" she demanded.

"Good one!" he said, grinning slightly.

"Sa-Satoshi! What are you doing?!"

Kishinuma and Shinozaki turned to the other two, and froze in place each with their own reaction to what they saw. While the former looked amused, the latter pouted in irritation. Satoshi, the other boy in question, clung to the other girl tightly with his arms wrapped around her body in sheer terror while staring unblinkingly at the classroom door. He had inadvertently pressed the side of his face up against one of her breasts.

"Ack! You squeezing me to death! Let go!"

"But Naomi…!" he whined.

Let go!" Naomi said through clenched teeth. She managed to get her hands pressed against his shoulders and a foot against his stomach. Then she heaved.

"LET!"

And hoed!

"Go!"

His cry in alarm was cut short by his impact with the floor flat on his back.

_Wham!_ There was another thunderous pound on the door, this time far more impatient than the first. As he stared at Satoshi freeze up in mid-attempt to sit, Kishinuma got an idea.

"Hey, Satoshi," he said.

"Yeah, Yoshiki?" came Satoshi's frightened whisper of an answer.

"Go answer the door. It's rude to keep them waiting," Yoshiki replied, wryly.

"ME?! Why should I?" Satoshi hissed, half of our fear, the other half, annoyance.

"Can't you see how frightened how Nakashima and Shinozaki are? Doesn't it just break your heart to see them like that? You're a man, aren't you? Go answer the door," Yoshiki said, trying his best to sound serious.

"Why don't you do it?" Satoshi shot back.

"I never said it bothered me," Yoshiki answered while barely containing a laugh.

"Oh, yes, please. O brave and strong Mochida," Naomi joined in with mock fear.

"Yes, go see who it is. I'm _scared_," Shinozaki put in her own bit.

Satoshi turned to them. They were both seated on their, giving him their best false puppy dog eyes. He knew they were faking it just to get out of going over to the door, themselves, but with everyone ganging up on him like this…

"Oh, fine!" Satoshi gave in.

"Good man," Yoshiki said dryly.

Satoshi got up and slowly walked over towards the door. By now, the knocking had reached a crescendo. Behind him, Yoshiki, Naomi, and their storyteller, Ayumi, watched him with anticipation. Satoshi stopped just on the other side and after a moment's hesitation, he grabbed the door handle. The door shot open, ripping itself from his grip! A slender, feminine form lunged forward from the darkness out in the hall.

"MORE! MORE!" it screamed.

"AAAAAAAAAAI-EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" his girlish scream could be heard from one end of the school to the next.

Satoshi squinted as the florescent lights flickered on overhead. He was once again on his back staring straight up. The sounds of everyone else laughing heartily made him squeeze his eyes shut again. He felt his face grow hot from embarrassment.

"Oh, man…" he groaned in resignation.

Now he knew he'd been had. He sat up and looked up toward the figure in the doorway who was laughing so hard that she had collapsed onto her knees. She steadied herself by holding the doorframe in one hand and gripped her gut in the other.

"Hello, Miss Yui," Satoshi said with flat glumness.

If there was ever the perfect approximate of a wilted plant in a person, it was Satoshi right then.

"Miss Yui?" Yoshiki greeted with a toothy grin as he stood up. "I was expecting Shinohara."

Yoshiki slid his hands down his shirt and jacket, straightening them out. Even under two lairs of shirt and his black school uniform jacket, one could tell he had an average frame. He stood at about 5'8". His keen gray eyes trailed down to the slumped sitting form of his friend. He smirked and ran a hand through his bleached out short and somewhat spiky hair.

"Nope, just me tonight!" Miss Yui replied.

Next to Kishinuma, the girls were celebrating their victory.

"That was a good one! You really got him this time, Shinozaki!" Naomi laughed.

"Me?! Kishinuma did half the work getting him over to the door!" Shinozaki said breathlessly wiping away a tear.

"And that was his best ear-splitting scream yet!" Naomi cried. "A bit of a coward. They still must not have dropped."

Satoshi just cringed even more listening to them behind him. He reached up and gripped his short, brown hair lightly in his hands. Miss Yui had gotten up and walked past him, inspecting the classroom.

"Alright, let's see the progress," she said, glancing around.

Satoshi heard footfalls approach him from behind and he turned to look up whoever it was. It was Yoshiki, whom Satoshi regarded grumpily with his chocolate brown eyes.

"Hey, man, no need to be like that," Yoshiki said in a laidback manner. "Here."

Yoshiki reached out a hand to help Satoshi up. The boy on the floor started to accept it, but suddenly Yoshiki pulled back.

"Psych!" he shouted, which just made Satoshi shrink even more.

"Geez," Miss Yui grumbled, absently fumbling with the panda bear pendant around her neck. "You guys have hardly done anything."

It was true. Most of the desks were still in their original positions. The only space that had been cleared was a small one in the middle of the room where her four students had gathered for Ayumi's spooky story.

"Blame the Horror Class Rep," Naomi said, directing a thumb at Ayumi.

"Hee hee," Ayumi giggled innocently, coiling one her black pigtails around her finger.

Both girls stood, making sure their long zaffre blue gowns didn't get caught on anything. The skirts ended halfway down their shins. Naomi flipped back up shoulder length black hair to keep it out of her face while Ayumi blew out the candle. The contrast between the two girls was almost comical. While Ayumi was short and skinny, almost scrawny, she came up just shy of five feet. She had long black hair tied into pigtails. Naomi was the taller one by a good few inches and more broadly built girl to match her tomboyish attitude.

"Anyway, that's enough clowning around," Naomi said stretching. "We're here for the school festival, not tell ghost stories."

"Couldn't have said it better myself," Miss Yui concurred.

The teacher glanced at her watch.

"Wow, it's this late, already. I didn't even notice the time going by while I graded stuff," she muttered. "It's already past time for all of you to have gone home to bed."

"Y-Yeah…" Satoshi put in. "We should hurry it up. I don't want to be here till dawn."

"Teehee! It figures the scaredy-cats would gang up on me!" Ayumi giggled.

"Who're you calling a scaredy-cat?" Miss Yui demanded, in mock anger.

"Shut up and get to work, Rep. Move it, move it!" Naomi said, clapping her hands briskly to get everyone's attention. "We gotta wrap this up!"

She pointed her finger at the boys.

"You two! Move the desks back while Class Rep and I do the decorating!" she barked.

"Who died and made you Sensei?" Yoshiki asked, wearily.

"It's more who has some work to do still and made Nakashima Sensei," Miss Yui answered.

She walked towards the door, where she stopped and faced her four students.

"I'm sorry, guys, but I promised Mr. Furuhata that I'd take care of some paperwork so he wouldn't have to stay late at the school, for once. He doesn't get to see his kids enough as it is," Miss Yui said earnestly apologetic.

"Lazy bum," Yoshiki cracked.

Miss Yui ignored him and stepped out into the hall, making a beckoning motion with her arm to some unseen person.

"But…" Miss Yui said as she turned back to her students with a glint in her eyes. "I do believe help came looking for her older brother."

"Huh?" came four simultaneous questioning replies.

"I coming in~!" a high-pitched voice sang.

A tiny figure stepped in through the doorway holding a red umbrella.

"Big brother!" she squealed in delight.

The little person had shoulder length dark hair similar to Naomi's, but in a pink hair-band. She had on the sailor school uniform from Kisaragi Academy's Junior High school. It had a white top with long sleeves and a blue knee-length skirt. She had bright blue eyes that practically shined childlike innocence. She seemed to be about thirteen-fourteen years of age despite her childish demeanor.

"Huh, Yuka?" Satoshi blinked. "What are you doing here?"

"You were gone so long, I thought I'd pick you up! Plus, you forgot your umbrella!" she replied, cheerily.

She held it out for him to accept.

"Here."

Satoshi accepted it, chuckling awkwardly.

"Ah, you're right. Sorry, Yuka," he said feeling a bit embarrassed at her having to do this.

But then he grinned kindly as an idea came to mind.

"You're a sharp girl! As a reward, I'll treat you to some crepes later!" he announced.

"Yaay! I KNEW it!" Yuka cheered.

Satoshi's brow twitched in irritation as he realized that this had been a ploy to that end from the beginning. His thoughts were interrupted when he noticed the others come up beside him in the corner of his eye.

"Is she a middle schooler?" Ayumi asked, bending down and resting her hands on her knees so as to be at Yuka's eye level.

"Yeah, this is Yuka, my younger sister," Satoshi answered, gesturing to the girl in question.

"Good evening," Yuka said with a bow. When she straightened up again, and looked up at Satoshi's friends giddily and eyes practically sparkling. "Thank you for taking care of my big brother!"

This had an immediate impact on Satoshi's classmates and Miss Yui.

"SHE'S ADORABLE!" Ayumi squealed, now absolutely smitten with her.

Naomi smirked and leaned in close to Satoshi, resting an elbow on his shoulder.

"Wow, Satoshi, I can't believe I didn't know you had such an adorable little sister. What else have you been hiding?" she asked, only half-sardonically.

"Ahaha, well, she's still in Junior High, you know?" Satoshi replied with a shrug.

"She reminds me of a puppy," Yoshiki thought.

"Hey, Yuka, you care about your brother a lot, don't you?" he asked.

"Sure do!" Yuka replied enthusiastically.

Then she turned to the older girls.

"You guys made him scream real good," Yuka said simply.

Satoshi blanched and visibly shrunk again as Naomi and Ayumi burst into another round of laughter.

"It's almost too easy to get him to do that," Yuka added, giving her brother a sly sideways glance.

"Anyway," Miss Yui said, taking the opportunity to speak up again. "I trust you can finish sooner than later with five."

"Only if Yuka doesn't mind helping," Satoshi answered, firmly.

"I'm fine helping! The more manpower, the faster you get done and we can go home, right?" Yuka asked, brightly.

"Can do, Miss Yui," Naomi replied confidently. "Alright, guys, let's move!"

"Good. I'll leave you to it, then. I'll be back in a little while to check on you guys, so don't slouch on the job," Yui said, disappearing into the hall.

When they were alone, Yuka looked around at the classroom curiously.

"So where do we start?" she asked.

"For us girls, right over there," Naomi answered. She pointed directly behind her at a pile of unused decorations in the upper corner of the room. She turned to the boys with an impish wink. "While the big, strong men move the desks and chairs."

"Yeah, yeah…" Yoshiki groaned, annoyed.

"Why do we have to do all the hard labor?" Satoshi whined.

"Because you're the big, strong men," Naomi deadpanned. "Besides…"

She gestured with her thumb over to Ayumi.

"_Someone_ let Seiko, Mayu, and Sakutaro go home early, and then everyone else ditched us soon after as soon as you turned your back on them," Naomi finished.

"Not my fault!" Ayumi protested, pouting. "I didn't know that I had a class of useless bums!"

One of Naomi's brows went up.

"Minus us, I'm assuming," she replied, still pokerfaced.

"Of course that doesn't include you, Nakashima," Ayumi answered.

"And what are we, chopped liver?" Yoshiki asked, gesturing between him and Satoshi.

Ayumi turned to them, about to speak, but then Satoshi held up a hand.

"Don't answer that, actually," he said, wearily.

Without another word, the girls went over to the decorations while the boys turned to the desks and chairs. Ayumi crouched down to pick up some poster paper when something whispered in her ear, unbidden.

"…_It was a rainy after-school day. Just like this…"_

With a short cry, she lost her footing and fell onto her side, making everyone in the room jump. Ayumi propped her upper body up with her hands and looked all around with big, frightened eyes.

"Who…who did that?" Ayumi asked, alarmed.

She looked up at Naomi, who stood not far away clutching both hands to her heart, hoping for an answer. Naomi let out the breath she'd briefly held and rolled her eyes. She looked at the Class Rep in irritation.

"…Are you kidding? We're done with the spooky stuff now, Class Rep," Naomi said gruffly.

"But it wasn't me!" Ayumi insisted shrilly.

By this time, Naomi wasn't even looking at her. She and Yuka were picking up armfuls of charms and objects that would be at home in a Shinto shrine.

"Stop clowning around and get back to work," Naomi said, not looking at her.

Across the room…

"Urk! Why just us, Yoshiki?" Satoshi groaned. They were piling up some chairs.

"Just a fact of life. People suck," Yoshiki replied. "Well, nothing to do about it now."

"No complaining, you two!" they heard Naomi belt out at them.

Yoshiki looked over his shoulder to call back his own retort, when suddenly, there was a violent flash of lightning outside that made the windows vibrate, and then they were bathed in darkness. Yuka let out a little cry and clung to Naomi's side. The older girl absently patted the middle schooler's head and looked around, trying to make out some detail in the dark.

"Huh? A power outage?" Naomi muttered, more annoyed than anything else.

Next to them in the pitch black, Ayumi felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up on end and chills went down her spine and through just about every other part of her. She wondered if that voice she'd heart just a little while ago had something to do with it.

"Oh, man," Satoshi groaned. "Talk about bad timing. We can't get anything done if we can't see."

"Hey, Shinozaki, where did you put that you had earlier?" Yoshiki asked.

The question brought Ayumi out of her frightened musings and she blinked it off.

"I put on the teacher's desk. Hang on a sec," she answered.

She turned and felt her way along the wall through the darkness until her fingers found the desk. She stepped closer to it and ran her fingers over its surface into they met the antiquated light source.

"Hey, is everyone okay in there?" they heard Yui's voice call from the hallway.

"We're fine, Miss Yui. Just a little in the dark here," Ayumi shouted back.

"Nobody move. I'll be right there," Miss Yui called.

As their teacher's footsteps clicked and echoed towards the classroom, Ayumi took out the matchbox from her skirt pocket and opened it, pouring out a couple of matches into her open palm. She dropped all but one onto the desk's top and put the match to the rough side of the container they came in. No sooner had she gotten it lit and Miss Yui had opened the classroom door shining a flashlight into the room did the lights turn back on. Teacher and Class Rep looked up in astonishment at the uncanny timing for the power to come on. Ayumi pursed her lips, and with a shrug, she blew the candle out.

"Never mind," Miss Yui said.

She clicked off the flashlight and then leaned forward, poking her head into the room. She looked each student over from where she was to make sure that they were all okay. Satisfied, she nodded and leaned back out into the fall. She set the flashlight down on a little table just inside the door.

"I'll just leave this here in case that happens again. We have spares in the faculty office and custodian's closet I can use if I have to, anyway," she offered.

"Thanks, Miss Yui!" Ayumi said, smiling.

Yui nodded again, and after one final look around, she closed the door behind her. Her students listened as her high heels clicked against the vinyl flooring and eventually faded out. Ayumi went over and retrieved the flashlight. She walked over to where the boys still stood.

"Hey, Satoshi, think fast," she said.

She tossed him the flashlight, which he caught.

"Thanks," he put the torch into his back pocket.

With that, they went back to work and before too long with the additional help of Yuka, they were nearly finished. The boys had a large space in the middle of the room cleared out and the decorations were nearly complete. Naomi, Yuka, and Ayumi put the finishing touches on making the teacher's desk resemble a small shrine. They were lined up in front of it as they worked. Left-to-right, Yuka, Naomi, and Ayumi.

"You really love your ghost stories, don't you?" Naomi said to Ayumi while they worked.

"Of course!" Ayumi said, looking toward her happily. "I wouldn't miss a chance to spook everyone!"

"…And that's why we get to hear them again and again, huh?" Naomi asked, somewhat exasperated.

"Crap!" Yoshiki suddenly shouted from across the room.

All three girls looked over their shoulders towards the boys. Yoshiki was tensely looking at his wristwatch.

"Look at how late it is. It's already past 8 o'clock," he grumbled.

Satoshi pushed the last desk into place clustered with the others at the back of the room. He turned around with his hands now shoved into his pockets, grinning gleefully.

"Well, we're all done here now, at least!" he announced.

"Oh," Naomi let out a relieved sigh. "Fantastic! That means you can help us over here!"

The boys wordlessly started over to them.

"… _ E…"_

Everyone froze. Ayumi's eyes widened and she began shaking, and drew her arms up against her body. Her hands were clutched into little fists just under her chin. Everyone looked at her oddly. Her reaction seemed very genuine, giving them further reason for pause.

"Wait, is this not one of her tricks?" Yoshiki actually wondered.

"Shinozaki?" he asked, really starting to become concerned.

Then the lights flickered, drawing everyone's stares upwards, and the power went out again. Ayumi whimpered and leaned over to pressing her shoulder against Naomi's side. Yuka, meanwhile, wrapped her arms around Naomi's in a tight grip.

"Why am I the security blanket?" Naomi thought with aggravation.

But the Naomi's gaze found its way over to Ayumi, who was beginning to hyperventilate.

"Shinozaki?" Naomi whispered. "You didn't do that scary voice just now, did you?"

"Another power out?" Satoshi asked, a bit sharply.

He reached and took out the flashlight from his pocket and flicked it on.

"See?!" Ayumi cried out, trembling.

"Eh?" both Satoshi and Yoshiki vocalized their confusion.

Satoshi shined the light over at the girls, but had the discretion not to point it right in their faces.

"I told you I heard a creepy voice earlier!" Ayumi blurted out.

"But it had to be you, right?" Yoshiki asked, starting to go on edge. "Y-y-y-you're just trying to scare us again, right?!"

"That didn't sound like Shinozaki, or like it even came from her," Satoshi put in, scanning the room with the flashlight.

Satoshi's hand shook, yet he still tried to keep it steady as he looked around for any sign of a second prankster.

"Hey!"

That gave everyone a start. It was just Miss Yui shouting towards them down the hall again. Satoshi went over to the door and opened it. He stepped out into the hall and glanced in the direction of another shining light pointed in his general direction.

"Yes, Miss Yui!" Satoshi called in reply.

"You guys are alright, right?" her voice came from the behind the beam of light.

"Yeah, and we just got down preparing for the festival tomorrow," he answered.

"Good. Satoshi, you can return the flashlight tomorrow. I'm going to head down to the basement and see what I can do about these power outs. Kids, you be careful on the steps. Satoshi, make sure everyone can see where they're putting their feet, alright?" she instructed.

"Yes, Miss Yui," Satoshi replied.

With that, Miss Yui disappeared around the corner and down the steps. Satoshi turned back towards the group, which had gathered a few feet behind him.

"You heard Miss Yui, guys. Let's get going," he said.

"We're coming," Yoshiki said.

He walked leisurely past his friend into the hall. Satoshi stepped back to allow Naomi maximum room with her newly attained arms ornaments. As soon as the three girls had managed to get through the doorway, Yuka dislodged herself from Naomi and took up residence clinging to Satoshi's side. Naomi turned to Ayumi with a dry grin.

"I'm sure Kishinuma wouldn't mind getting some attention like that," she cracked.

"That's fine," Ayumi mumbled.

"What are you gals talking about n…" Yoshiki started to ask as he turned to face them.

He stopped midsentence as the sound of organ music pierced the air. It echoed through the school. Whoever it was was pounding on the keys madly.

"Wait, ya hearing that, too?!" Yoshiki exclaimed.

Naomi gaped, looking to her left down the hallway.

"What's that sound?" was Yuka's scared inquiry.

"It... It sounds like an organ. Could it be coming from the music room?" Satoshi suggested, following Naomi's gaze.

"Impossible! Our school doesn't have an organ!" Ayumi cried.

Naomi turned her head enough to look between Satoshi and toward the source of the sound in the corners of her eyes.

"She's right. We have a piano, but not an organ," she said.

Satoshi's mouth dropped open as he realized that she was absolutely correct.

"Hold up, so how the hell did someone get one in here, and why the hell are they playin' it here in the middle of the night?!" Yoshiki demanded, his mood stuck somewhere between anger and anxiety.

"No…" Ayumi whimpered.

She hid herself fully behind Naomi now. Naomi glanced behind her at the terrified Class Rep, and then back at Satoshi. By now, even Naomi had worried look in her eyes.

"Wanna go check?" she asked in a little voice.

Satoshi reeled back a step, throwing his hands up as if to protect himself.

"Oooh, no!" he shouted defensively. "I AM not being the guinea pig this time!"

The music was getting louder, to the point where it was reverberated painfully off the walls. Everyone flinched as their ears began to ring. And then, it just stopped. They all stared over in the direction it had come from.

"The hell…?" Yoshiki uttered.

They all stood in frozen silence for a long moment that never seemed to end. That is, until Satoshi worked up the courage to speak again.

"Wh…- Wh-wh-wh-" he stammered.

He swallowed and then tried again.

"What if it's the bloody, headless girl from Shinozaki's story?" he asked, whimpering.

Then the silence was broken again by what sounded like someone loudly banging their hands against the keys of the instrument. Ayumi, Yuka, and Satoshi all screamed while Naomi and Yoshiki made do with a simple wince.

"But…aren't you curious?" Naomi asked Satoshi.

She looked in the direction of the noise once more, starting to look inquiring and determined.

"Miss Yui will still be down in the basement. So let's check!" she said.

"Suit yourself, but I'm leaving and I'm taking Yuka out of here. Oh, and I'm taking the flashlight, too," Satoshi said, stubbornly.

Naomi frowned deeply.

"But I don't wanna go alo…-!"

But then, her jaw firmed up and she glared furiously.

"Oh, forget it!" she shouted.

She turned and stormed down the hall. Ayumi clenched up tighter than before with her protective cover now having left her behind. Yoshiki looked at Shinozaki and saw just how scared she really saw. He had no problem coming to a decision.

"I'll go with her," he said, starting to follow suit.

He paused as he walked up between Ayumi and the Mochidas.

"Hey, Satoshi, you'll take Shinozaki with ya, right?" he asked.

Satoshi nodded his head slightly. Yoshiki returned the gesture and then followed after Naomi. With that, the three really scared ones were left alone. Satoshi dislodged his arm from Yuka's grip, causing her to whine. He, instead, took her hand in his, and then faced Ayumi. She was pensively looking at the shrinking forms of Naomi and Yoshiki. She swallowed hard before looking squarely at Satoshi like a deer in the headlights.

"C-Come on, everyone," she said, trying to sound brave. "Strength in numbers and all that. Mochida, bring Yuka along."

Then she ran after them, leaving just the Mochidas. Satoshi felt Yuka squeeze his hand to get his attention.

"Big Brother…" she said pathetically.

"Man… Come on, Yuka," Satoshi sighed.

Then he started after the others, leading Yuka along by the hand. He shined the light ahead and saw Naomi stop in front of the music room door at the corridor's end. Yoshiki wasn't far behind her, and Ayumi was practically his second shadow. Naomi waited for everyone to gather around as she stood still as a statue in front of the door. When she was sure everyone was there, she looked over her shoulder at them. The sound blared through the door from the other side. The music had calmed back down into a more melodic rhythm.

"Well, no doubt about it. It's coming from here," she said as calmly as she could.

"Could it be a recording being played?" Yoshiki asked. "Since you say we don't have an organ, after all."

"One way to find out," Naomi answered.

She turned to Satoshi and held out her hand.

"Torch, please," she requested.

Satoshi handed over the flashlight. Naomi took it and trained it on the door. She reached out, and wrapped her fingers around the door's handle. She hesitated nervously just for a moment, but then she threw the door open. The instant she did, all pandemonium broke loose. The building suddenly shook violently as if an earthquake had started! All five teens were thrown off their feet and their landed on the floor, hard. Yuka and Ayumi screamed whilst curling themselves into tight little balls on the floor.

"What the hell…-?!" Yoshiki shouted.

"What is this?!" Satoshi cried out as he was rolled back and forth brutally by the shaking.

They were blinded by blue light shining from all over, and then their vision was assaulted further then it changed to pure light the blotted everything else out.

"SATOSHI! EVERYONE!" Naomi shrieked.

"BIG BROTHERRRRRRRRRR!" Yuka squealed in terror.

The light then died, leaving them being shaken by the quake in total darkness save for the flashlight. Naomi, through her disorientation, heard something start to tear itself apart through several loud cracking sounds. She shined the light on the floor where she heard originate from. She couldn't believe what she saw. A crack formed in the middle of the floor that then spread out clear from one end of the hall to the next almost instantly, moving with purpose. It went up the walls at the opposite ends and then extended onto the ceiling overhead. Naomi saw that Satoshi and Yuka were both positioned right on the split. She felt her heart skip a beat.

"Satoshi!" she shouted.

Somehow, Naomi found herself footing. She got herself up on her hands and knees and then dove for her friend and his little sister. It was all for naught. The two ends started to come apart. Yoshiki and Ayumi were beside themselves as the Mochidas disappeared into without so much as time to scream.

"NO!" Naomi cried.

She peered over the side and saw darkness. Behind her, Yoshiki grabbed Ayumi and brought in her close. He was about to try to haul her into the music room when both halves of the floor tilted downward like a trapdoor. Now even he and Naomi let out terrified cries as they were thrown into that darkness beneath them. And then all was silent on the second floor hallway. The floor repaired itself as if rewinding time and the lights turned back on as normally. A perfectly mundane scene with no remaining evidence that something out of the ordinary had transpired.

"Kids! KIDS! Can you hear me?! Why are you screaming?!" Miss Yui called up as loudly as she could.

She had come running as soon as she heard them start to cry out. She had even ditched her high heels and was dashing up the stairwell, skipping a step with every stride. She slid on the slick floor on her socked feet out into the hall.

"Mochida! Shinozaki! Kishinuma! Nakashima!" she shouted.

Nothing but silence answered back she looked down the hall. Only the dull buzz of the lights kept her from total silence. Miss Yui didn't even bother to turn her torch off as she sprinted down the hall towards Room 2-9. She threw open the door, but found it empty. She leaned in, pressing her gripping both sides of the frame tightly as she looked in with large, worry-stricken eyes.

"Kids? KIDS?!" she shouted.

Miss Yui bit into a finger as panic began to set. Before she knew it, she was dashing back and forth through the second floor, checking every room, and desperately shouting their names. But there was nothing. Somehow, her precious students had disappeared.

**Next Chapter:** Wandering these Hallowed Halls

**A/N: **Okay, so I'm using the reboot's version of Yoshiki. What can I say? He's a lot more interesting than his PC-98 incarnation, who was only a compelling character in the fan game _if _and its remake, at least in my opinion. Speaking of "if", Yuka's uniform is from the _Past End_ version of that game.

This is a side project I'm working while my main work is _Celestial Warrior M_oon. Updates will come, but sporadically.


	2. Chapter 2: These Hallowed Halls

**Corpse Party: Another Path**

_**Disclaimer:**_I do not own any _Corpse Party _related properties_._ It is the property of Team GrisGris and Makoto Kenouin. This is a fan work created to celebrate the opus. It is not intended to infringe on any copyrights.

**Guest: **What exactly was confusing or weird about chapter 1? I'm genuinely curious to know. I hope you'll comment again and elaborate some more on that. And thank you for the review! I much appreciate it! :)

**Quietgirl117**: Thank you!

**Chapter 2**

**Wandering these Hallowed Halls**

"Uuugh."

When Satoshi awoke, it felt like he'd been beaten. His body was a collection of soreness all over. Whatever had happened, it had been rough. He squeezed his eyes shut tighter as he began to stir, not yet registering the world around him. He was still dazed, his head swimming with pain. He was on his back in a tangle of his own limbs. Upon opening his eyes, his vision was a red-tinted haze.

He tried to raise his head to look around, but even that made him feel dizzy. He tried to shake it off, unsuccessfully. He stared dully up at the ceiling, which he could just barely make out through the darkness. As his mind slowly came back to a comprehensive state, he realized some things. That he was cold, that the air was stale and he was hearing the sound of several objects lightly falling against a surface. Light flashed around wherever he was and then faded allowing him a quick glimpse of an aged wooden ceiling over him with equally old and dust support boards holding it up. Thunder clapped outside, shifting Satoshi's mind into gear.

"That's right…it was raining," his mind managed to register.

He stare intensified as he tried to recall the sequence of events.

"We were staying late… Yuka showed up with my umbrella… the power went out… and then…"

His eyes shot wide up. He attempted sitting up, but the sudden movement sent pain shooting through his back and head. He flopped back down, clutching the sides of face.

"OW OW OW!"

He hissed in pain, breathing in and out through clenched teeth as he tried to steady himself. Another rumble of thunder reached his ears.

"Yuka… Naomi… Get moving, Mochida," he ordered himself.

Spurred on by worried thoughts of his sister and friend, he turned himself gingerly over onto his stomach. He let go of his throbbing head and pressed his palms firmly against the wooden floor. It creaked and moaned as he slowly pushed himself up onto his hands and knees, hissing in more pain as he did. He eased his head up to look around. A series of short bursts from the lighting shined light into the room again, just long enough to make out some detail. It was unmistakably a classroom, just not one from Kisaragi Academy, or even one that had been used recently.

He was in the back of the room staring forward. A few old, decrepit wooden desks and chairs were scattered around, either in pieces or knocked over their side. All were in a state of disrepair. There were innumerable holes in the floorboards and some were completed dislodged from their proper or at least loose. The middle of the floor had collapsed into a large chasm from wall to wall, separating him from the chalkboard. He hadn't looked that closely at the walls, but they looked white and crumbly, probably plaster of some kind. Yet, the windows seemed intact.

"What the…-? What happened?" he utterance escaped his lips like a sigh.

His eyes scanned the room.

"Yuka…-?! Naomi!" he called, starting to panic. "Yoshiki! Shinozaki! …Someone! Answer me!"

All was quiet.

"Damn, gotta get a light somewhere," he muttered.

He looked around.

"What about that flashlight or Shinozaki's candle?" he wondered aloud.

He sat up on his knees, straining under the lingering soreness. His left knee slid forward and he put his foot on the floor. He rested one of his hands on his knee as he steadied himself. His eyes fell on a ruined desk with half its top and three legs missing. In frustration, he thumbed the floor once with his fist.

"What is this place, anyway? And how did we get here? Just what is going on here?" his questions swirled in his mind.

Then he looked toward the chalkboard at the front. It was too dark to read anything, so his eyes trailed down to the floor where they stopped down a form placed just under it. He blinked and strained his eyes. What was it?

"Hm?"

He tried to stand up, but upon putting pressure on the right ankle, pain ripped through it and he fell back down onto his rear with a slight howl. He tried to restrain an agonized moan from making its way past his lips as he gripped his throbbing ankle tightly. He hissed from the sting again.

"Damn it. Now is not the time to have a bum ankle," he uttered in a strained whisper.

He slowly got up, favoring his hurt ankle. Then he hobbled around the room, feeling his way closer to the gap. When he was about a yard from the edge, as near as he dared go, he craned his neck forward and tried to look at the lump at the front of the room. More lightning struck outside, revealing the form to be a person for just a spit second. There was someone else in that place with him! They were likely unconscious, separated from him by the gap.

"Hello!" he called. "HELLO!"

The person didn't stir.

"Damn!"

Satoshi made his way to where he started, stumbling and feeling his way through in the near pitch black. Eventually, he found his way to one of the classroom doors. He felt for the handle, and when he had it, he pushed it open without any trouble.

"At least I'm not locked in here," he thought in an attempt to keep his spirits up.

He stepped out into the dark hallway of this strange place. He stopped to examine his surroundings. It was even darker and drearier out there. He could faintly make out a large hole in the floor just to his right and several smaller ones randomly scattered all around. The other door into that room was about twenty feet to his left. He turned and felt his way along the wall, careful where he put his feet. When he was close, he almost stepped in a large hole between him and it. Sighing, he realized he'd have to step away from the wall. He limped around it and reentered the classroom.

As cautiously as before, he walked over to the sleeping figure on the floor. As he got closer, he could make out that the person was sleeping on their side with their legs drawn close to their body and one arm outstretched over their head. He squinted. He could make out a long skirt and in the outstretched hand… a flashlight!

"Naomi!" Satoshi exclaimed with realization.

He knelt beside her, taking the flashlight from her.

"Hang in there, Naomi!" he cried, very worried.

As he shook her, her eyes squeezed shut tighter as she began to stir. Satoshi tried to turn the flashlight on, but the bulb remained dark. Scowling, Satoshi shook it and smacked his palm against the side. Sure enough, after flickering a little bit, and turned on. He trained the beam on her and slowly scanned her body with it. She didn't appear hurt.

"Naomi?" he called again.

He picked her up by her sides and lifted her up. He pulled her into his arms tightly. His breathing quickened from worry as he practically hugged her out of mounting dread that there was something wrong that the eye could not see.

"Naomi! Naomi!" he repeated gently.

She rolled her head around in a half-conscious attempt to work the soreness out of her neck. She groaned and then finally started to slowly open her eyes.

"Mm…?" her eyes briefly wandered, but soon found his. "Huh?"

It was about that this point she realized the position she was in, and though Satoshi couldn't see it in the dark, her face turned bright red. She cried out and violently pushed away from him, successfully dislodging herself from his grip and sending Satoshi careering onto his back! He landed with a loud 'Bang!" An agonized choke forced its way out of him as his head returned to a similar state it had been in when he first woke up. Naomi sat there a moment, as it dawned on her what she'd done. She covered her mouth with a hand to stifle a gasp. She rolled onto her knees and sat up.

"Oh, my gosh! I'm sorry!" she cried. Her voice pierced the air shrilly.

"Man, Naomi, why you always gotta be a so mean," Satoshi grumbled in pain.

He sat back up, rubbing the back of his head. He stared at her with a faint glare, but by then, she was looking around at the room with huge eyes filled with confusion and uncertainty.

"Where…are we?" she hesitated to even speak.

Satoshi threw his hands up in a shrug.

"Who knows? I can't make heads or tails of what's going on," he gave the only answer she could.

"What?!" she cried, angrily.

Before Satoshi could say anything else, she'd snatched the flashlight again and nimbly jumped to her feet without use of her hands. She turned around several times shining the light everywhere. There wasn't much to see that the lightning didn't already reveal.

"No way… Ho-hold on! Where ARE we?! What's going on?!" She was fast becoming hysterical.

"I'd love to be able to answer that…" Satoshi answered with a sigh.

Satoshi shifted his position to get his legs under him. He pushed himself up using his arms and left leg. He stood wobbly and hobbled forward a step. Naomi caught the abnormal movements and looked at him, shining the light on his bad leg.

"You're hurt," she plainly said.

"Yeah, but I'll manage," he said, his voice low and somewhat gravely.

"And I pushed you real hard," she said guiltily.

"Yes, you did," he replied dryly.

She flinched, the remorse visible in her face even in the dim lighting.

"Don't worry about it," Satoshi said absently.

"BIG BROTHER!" the sound of Yuka's cry blasted in from the hall.

Satoshi and Naomi turned just in time for Yuka to run through the door, stopping just inside. Her huge blue orbs were even wider than usual in her horrorstruck state. Satoshi let out a big whoosh of air from his lungs out of relief. She was alive, and unharmed. His entire body relaxed.

"…Yuka, are you okay?" he asked, just to be sure.

Tears on her face reflected the torchlight and she hiccupped. Then she let out an anguished cry and flew across the room at Satoshi! His eyes went wide as he realized what was about to happen. He held up his hands to stop her.

"Yuka! Wai…-!"

His little sister slammed into him, making him stumble and step down hard on his hurt foot. His garbled yowl rang out as he shuffled around, trying to regain balance. Naomi grabbed him by the arm and steadied him. Yuka released him and stepped back to examine him

"Big Brother, what's wrong?" Yuka asked pitifully.

"Big Brother has a hurt ankle," Satoshi answered with a grunt.

He paused and looked at her. He wiped away one of Yuka's tears.

"Hey now, I'll be alright. Dry those years now. Everything's going to be okay," he said, comfortingly.

A-alright," she replied.

She wiped then off on her sleeve. Clattering footsteps from the hallway drew everyone's attention again. Naomi directed the beam at the door as Yoshiki appeared carrying Ayumi's candle. He blocked the shine in his face with his free hand. Shinozaki followed him closely, quietly tearing up.

"Hey, there! Found 'em! Are you guys alright?" he said, enthusiastically.

For the second time in minutes, Satoshi breathed a relieved sigh and smiled back.

"Yeah! We're fine. Thank God, the gang's all here!" he said.

"Yeah, but…" Yoshiki muttered.

He eyed his surroundings worriedly as he and Ayumi made their way over to them. Yoshiki stole a concerned glanced at the Class Rep as her breaths became more ragged.

"What's wrong?" Satoshi asked her, though he felt dumb for even asking.

"What's wrong is she's terrified out of her wits!" Yoshiki retorted a bit rudely.

Ayumi eyed everyone, appearing more a scared kitten than the snarky horror story loving girl they all knew. That made the whole group go quiet. Yoshiki brought a hand up to put on her shoulder, but she quickly moved away and walked over to Satoshi's side, opposite of Naomi. Dejected, Yoshiki's arm fell back to his side. He looked away, obscuring the flashlight's ability to read his face. Feeling the awkwardness, Satoshi cleared his throat and looked over his shoulder at one of the windows.

"Let's try getting one of those opened," he suggested.

"Yeah, Yoshiki replied.

While Yoshiki and Naomi moved in to open a window, Ayumi suddenly felt the room grew even colder. She glanced over her shoulder, feeling eyes on her from all sides. She didn't know how, but she knew something was watching them. A 'thump' returned her attention to the others. Yoshiki had righted an intact desk while Naomi slid up a couple of chairs. Yuka uttered a thanks as she sat down Not wanting to pass up the chance to sit and try to make sense of all this, Ayumi also took a seat. Satoshi simply sat on the desk shining the light in the direction Yoshiki and Naomi were heading.

While her friends worked, Ayumi stole another glance behind her into the dark room and at the opened doorways. Minutes passed, and Yoshiki and Naomi dug their heels into the floor as they strained and growled trying to push one of the windows open, but it stubbornly stayed in place. They had tried all the others they could get to, so it was _this _one or none! It didn't dodge. Not an inch, so they both gave up.

"Tch!" Yoshiki stepped away, throwing up his hands in defeat.

"No good," Naomi said, also giving up. She rubbed her sore wrists. "It's too dark to see out, anyway, and the window's jarred shut."

"Jarred shut? More like part of the wall and just doesn't open," Yoshiki put in frustratedly.

"But that makes no sense," Satoshi argued.

"Neither does anything about this," Yoshiki countered impassively.

He wandered over to the chalkboard and began absently looking around at the old pieces of paper that were still sticking to the wall.

"Hey, Satoshi, shine the light over here," he instructed.

Satoshi obeyed, landing the beam on the pin-ups.

"Looks like an old newspaper," Yoshiki said while his eyes skimmed the writing.

He looked at the date.

"September 24th… 1926," he said in astonishment.

Ayumi slowly looked over at him, looking utterly disbelieving.

"…What?" she demanded.

She stood as panic set in again. Her trembling hands gripped the table, causing her nails to dig in.

"Where are we?" her voice was but a petrified whisper.

She grabbed her chest as she began hyperventilating again.

"No!" she screamed as poured forth again. "This is all wrong!"

"Shinozaki," Yoshiki uttered.

He started over towards her as she sunk onto her knees and rested her forehead on the tabletop in despair.

"Save me…" she hiccupped.

Compelled to do so, Yuka jumped out off of her chair and approached the older girl. She looked uncertain of what to do, but she still put her hand on the sobbing girl's back comfortingly. She tried to smile.

"Its okay, Shinozaki," she said. "We're all here for you."

Ayumi didn't answer. She rested her forearms and face on the cold wooden surface of the table. Yoshiki came up behind her. His emotions settled somewhere between concern for Ayumi and frustration at the situation. His tense expression matched.

"Man, I could use a cigarette right about now," he thought.

His hands involuntarily moved into his pockets as if to reach for the required items. His fingers closed around nothing. He got a grip on himself again immediately and turned his thoughts to Ayumi.

"Hey, whoever dragged us here's gonna have to come through me first," he vowed.

Yoshiki wore a mask of confidence. He kept any doubts safely hidden underneath. If his promise made Ayumi feel better that was all that mattered. Ayumi rested her head on its side and regarded him out of the corner of her eye.

"...Thank you…" she mumbled.

Yoshiki smiled and offered his hand. Ayumi hesitated, but tentatively accepted the offer and he helped her to her feet. Naomi marched and leaned on one hand against the table.

"Speaking of which, whoever left us here will be back," she said firmly.

The others turned to her, giving her their full attention.

"We have to find an exit, get home, and call the police!" she declared, folding her arms after her stomach.

"What makes you so sure we can?" Ayumi asked in a small voice.

"You'd rather just stand around here looking at your shoes waiting for whatever psycho did this to return?!" Naomi aggressively snapped.

Naomi was about to shout at Ayumi some more, but stopped herself. She snapped her mouth shut and tried to settle down. Her breath slowed again. She was scared, and the others could see it. Satoshi decided it was time to speak as well. He slid off the table and faced his friends and sister.

"She's right," he said. "Let's get out of here."

Yoshiki nodded once, confirming his cooperation.

"…How?" Ayumi asked.

"We're in a building, and an old at that. They will be exits," Satoshi replied, resolutely. "A window, a DOOR, something HAS to give."

"Absolutely!" Naomi exclaimed, excitedly clapping Satoshi's shoulder. "I agree with this! So how about everyone else?"

"I'm with Mochida," Ayumi said, perking up a little bit.

"Me, too!' Yuka chirped.

Yoshiki glanced over at the door and into the dark beyond before looking at the others agin.

"If we're going to search for an exit," he said, thoughtfully. "We're going to be running all over this place top to bottom."

"That's right," Naomi nodded.

Satoshi turned to her.

"We might want to split up, then," he suggested.

He turned to each member of the group.

"Every so often, we come back to this room and get each other up to speed," Satoshi went on.

"They finally dropped, did they?" Naomi smirked. "I thought you'd be in favor of 'strength in numbers'. Anyway, it's not a bad idea."

"Oh, get off my back," Satoshi moaned.

He motioned around at Yoshiki, Ayumi, and Yuka.

"What do you think?" he asked.

"I'm fine with anything," Yoshiki shrugged.

"Splitting up?" Ayumi said doubtfully. "I'm not so sure about that."

"We'll be fine!" Naomi said confidently. She waved off Ayumi's concern with a grand sweeping motion. "We'll all be back soon!"

She trained a critical eye on Ayumi.

"…Are you really that frightened, Miss Scary Story Lover? Get a grip, will ya? How do you think I feel?"

"Scary stories and scary situations are completely different!" Ayumi shouted back.

"Anyway!" Satoshi loudly spoke up before Naomi could. "There's five of us! So makes for one group of three, and one of two!"

"So, how do we split this?" Yoshiki asked.

"…I'm fine as long as I'm with Brother," Yuka answered.

She quickly went to his side.

"I…" Ayumi started.

"She'll go with Satoshi," Yoshiki thought. He sighed and resigned himself to this. "So it'll be Nakashima and I. Not the pair up I would have picked, but Shinozaki will feel safer with him, anyway. Nakashima's not that bad. Pushy, but not bad."

"I think I'll go with Satoshi," Naomi announced. She clapped her hand on Satoshi's shoulder again. "This big lummox is useless without me, anyway."

Naomi glanced at Ayumi and gestured to Yoshiki with her head.

"You go ahead and go with Kishinuma, Shinozaki," she said.

"Eh?" was Ayumi's stunned utterance.

Ayumi's shoulders slumped, but she said nothing more. She walked over to Yoshiki in defeat. The bleach blonde hid his mixed feelings over the last minute change in the scenario and greeted the Class Rep with a smile.

"Yo," he greeted her.

"Yo," she parroted quietly.

"Alright, are we ready to go?" Satoshi asked.

"Just the two of us…will we be safe?" Ayumi asked in one final attempt to keep the group together.

"You wanna go with Satoshi, instead?" Yoshiki asked.

"Its fine," Ayumi backpedaled quickly, wanting to avoid offending him. "I just don't feel safe in this place."

"Don't worry about it," Naomi assured her.

Satoshi looked at his wristwatch.

"Alright, everybody be back here in thirty minutes. Don't do anything reckless!" he ordered.

Yoshiki gave him a sardonic salute.

"Same goes for you, Boss," Yoshiki replied. "Stay safe, ya got two lovely ladies with you!"

Satoshi chuckled.

"…Thanks."

Satoshi swept the beam back over to the door, passing it over a large, thick board leaning against on the way. They headed out. Team Satoshi stepped to the right once out in the hall while Team Yoshiki went left, separating into their groupings. Satoshi shined the light on the left, in the direction Yoshiki and Ayumi were pointed. The floor had mostly caved in with just a very narrow section of floorboards were still connected on the left.

"Looks dangerous," Satoshi noted.

He glanced at the dim glow of the candle Yoshiki held delicately in his hands.

"You guys gonna be okay with just that?" he asked.

Yoshiki looked down at the candle doubtfully.

"We only got two light sources, so somebody's gonna be stuck with the candle either way," he answered. "Your team's got three, so you keep flashlight, Satoshi. In any case, I guess this is where we split. Good luck, and star safe."

Yoshiki turned and headed down the hall. Ayumi reluctantly started after him, glancing over her shoulder at the other team big, scared eyes. Satoshi nodded at her, reassuringly.

"You, too," he called after his friends.

Satoshi turned the light to the right. The floor was just completely collapsed, from wall to wall, though the chasm got narrower at the far end just across from the ascending stairwell just on the other side.

"Right…" Satoshi muttered. He glanced over at the other team. "Hey, it looks like we won't be splitting up just yet, anyway. The floor's just a big hole down this way."

"Yeah…" Yoshiki responded, but he was only half paying attention.

He put his weight down on the narrow remaining section of floor down their way. It held firm, so he started inching his way forward.

"Be careful, Kishinuma," Ayumi cautioned him, fretfully.

"If we need to a cross the gap, what about using that big board back there?" Naomi gestured back into the room.

"Huh?" Satoshi answered dumbly.

Naomi rolled her eyes and disappeared into the area they started in. Before Satoshi could go after her, he felt a tugging on his arm. He looked down at Yuka that was trying to get his attention.

"Yeah?" he asked.

She reached into her skirt pocket and pulled out a small bottle of pink scented beads. She held it up in both palms.

"Big Brother… here," she offered.

"Hmm? What's this?" Satoshi asked.

"It's my good luck charm, Brother, take it," she said, holding it up higher.

"Eh?" Satoshi was a bit confused. "Sorry, but you keep it. I can't take something that special from you."

Yuka looked away, trying to hide a worried face, but Satoshi noticed right away.

"Yuka, are you okay?" he asked, concerned about his sister's emotional well-being.

"You are so thick sometimes!" Yuka muttered sadly.

He had no idea how to take that.

"It worries me…" Yuka trailed off.

Feeling guilty, Satoshi reached down to take the charm.

"Alright, I'll take it," he relented.

His hands closed around the tiny object as he picked up and quickly pocketed it. Yuka hid a relieved smile. Satoshi turned his attention back to the classroom just as a surly Naomi came barging out dragging a large chunk of wood under her arm.

"Oh, no, don't help me lug this thing out, by any means!" she ranted with angry sarcasm.

"Uh, sorry," Satoshi awkwardly tried apologizing.

Naomi just huffed and stormed past the Mochidas over to the hole. She slid around the slab around in front and carefully laid it across the narrowest part of the hole. She straightened back up, clapping the dust off her hands. She stepped back, putting her hands on her hips proudly.

"There! Now we can cross!" she proclaimed.

"Yeah, right, like I'm going to trust that to hold our weight up," Satoshi replied skeptically.

Naomi glanced over her shoulder at huffily.

"Humph!" She turned away from him and stepped toward her makeshift bridge. Satoshi's eyes widened in horror as he realized what she was about to do.

"No! …Wait!"

He reached out, hobbling after her, but he was too slow. He watched in horror as Naomi stepped down on the board, and followed it up with another stride. The boards creaked and moaned under her weight. Time seemed to stand still, but then in a couple of paces, Naomi had crossed the bridge. She turned around and crossed her arms, staring at him crossly. Satoshi returned it with him own look that told her she'd just pulled a very dangerous stunt.

"Hey, it held!" Yuka chimed.

She immediately stepped forward to follow after Naomi.

"What? Yuka, no!" he protested, grabbing for her.

But younger teen stepped out of his reach faster than he could move, crossing with Naomi's rickety overpass with no problem. She stopped, turned around, and waited for her brother on the other side.

"Well, come on, Big Brother," Yuka called, beckoning with sweeping motions from both arms.

Satoshi whimpered, staring doubtfully at the very unsecure-looking link of Naomi's design. He slowly walked over and then reluctantly put his foot down on it. He took another baby step forward and lunged across as fast as he could. The girls parted to let him through and he stepped in-between them, safely on the other side. He turned and looked behind him, and found the board still holding, much to his surprise.

The trio faced the steps and headed up to the second floor.

"Here, let me lead," Naomi offered.

"Uh, sure," Satoshi answered, handing her the torch.

She shot up the steps ahead of the other two, but stopped halfway, shining the beam of light where they'd be stepping. At the bottom step, Satoshi briefly looked behind. He could see neither his other two classmates nor the glow of their candle. With that, he started up. The going was slow, thanks to Satoshi's bum ankle. Yuka stayed by his side in case he needed assistance. When they reached the second floor, they found the way directly to the right nothing more than another immense fissure. To the left, most of the floor still remained and there were several classrooms along the wall closer to them to search. Something about it just seemed off. They didn't know what. Was it the still, heavy air, or the complete lack of creaks, which usually denoted settling floorboards? Either way, it was eerily quiet, like the building itself was holding its breath in anticipation.

Nevertheless, their pressed on with Naomi marching in front. When she neared the first door on their left, she opened and poked her head inside. There was nothing but an empty classroom with nothing of note inside. Even the cabinets seemed bare. They skipped it and went to the next room. Naomi absently shined the light on the old bucket laid down next it. It was filled with a congealing yellow liquid. Her face twisted in disgust and quickly stepped past it.

Inside, the floor had sunken deeper in, but they had the entire right portion soundly still standing firm. It was the same as that first room and the other one, dark and musty. There were some more desks and chairs, all of which seemed unusable now. There was a pair of cabinets in the upper right corner, but all it had was old textbooks and encyclopedias. They did not linger. Both doors into the next room down the hall were locked up tight and weren't about to be budged. Naomi turned and handed the flashlight back to Satoshi.

"Here," she said.

"Hmm? What for?" he asked, uncertain why he'd been given the battery powered lamp again.

"Just watch," Naomi answered.

She grabbed the sliding door's handle in both, braced her foot against the frame and pulled. She threw her full body weight into it and pushed off the frame. She grunted from the effort, straining and pulling with every ounce of muscle she had. The door creaked, but did not budge. Naomi ceased her efforts and stepped away. She put her hands on her hips stubbornly glaring at the lock like it was child that wasn't complying with its mother's wishes. A second later, she knee shot up and her foot kicked out in a snapping motion. She walloped the lock as hard as she could with a grunt.

"You're going to try to kung fu the door?" Satoshi asked, thinking this 'plan' foolish.

Ignoring him, she kicked it again, harder this, followed a third time, and a fourth. The faint sound of wood cracking could be heart on the final impact. Naomi smiled triumphantly, wiping the sweat from her brow. Behind her, Yuka leaned in close to Satoshi, cupping a hand around her mouth.

"Are you sure you should be so interested in a violent girl like her," Yuka whispered to him, teasingly.

"Shut it," Satoshi retorted, looking away shyly.

Naomi tried forcing the door again to no more luck than she'd had before. She growled, slamming her fist against it. Satoshi turned the light further along and saw that the next room down was wide open.

"Let's come back to this one later if we have to," he suggested. "We can check that one for now."

He nodded towards the succeeding room.

"No way!" Naomi argued, without turning around. By now, she was obstinately pushing against the knob.

"Naomi, you're fighting a _door_…and _losing_," Satoshi pointed out, placing special emphasis on how silly her little show was becoming.

Naomi turned around sharply, getting into his personal space with a cranky glower, causing he take a startled pace back. She took the flashlight and stomped over to the next area.

"I think I was just staring into the jaws of a tiger," Satoshi thought, releasing the tension in his body.

Satoshi and Yuka entered after Naomi and found her scanning the room with the circle of light, shaking her head in frustration. It was like all the others they'd been in, sections of caved in floor, decaying tables and seats, and piles of miscellaneous junk. Honestly, they had been expecting as much.

With an agitated growl, Naomi kicked a nearby chair, causing its backrest to bounce up. She caught it in hand and dragged the seat into an upright position. She then sunk down into it, resting her hands in her lap and slumping forward. She fumed and tapped her foot nervously.

"Naomi?" Satoshi asked, more than a bit alarmed by the behavior.

The tomboy didn't respond, didn't even move.

"Naomi?" Yuka asked, timidly.

She sauntered over to her and squatted down to look up Naomi's downcast face. Naomi's discouraged and vexed gaze found its way over to the young teen in the corner of her vision.

"What's wrong?" Yuka asked, like a child upset by a parent's erratic behavior.

"This place is that's what's wrong, Yuka," Satoshi answered.

He limped over to her side.

"What's on your mind, Naomi?" he asked, hoping she'd talk.

Naomi finally leaned back, sitting upright. She jerked her head up, tossing the hair out of her face, and looked up at him.

"What are even looking for on the second floor, Satoshi?" she asked, shaking her head.

"A way out, or a clue, or a key, or something," he reiterated what he'd said before.

"Oh, right, I'm just going to find something important just lying around in one of these rooms!" Naomi replied cynically. "That locked door is what's going to have something we can use, if anything."

"We won't know until we've looked," Satoshi answered calmly. "Now let's just finish searching in here and move on."

Naomi sighed glanced over at the back wall.

"You wanna what's in here?" she asked. "Look."

The spotlight landed on yet another stack of random things. A long table was leaned up against the side of the heap.

"That's what's in here," Naomi said snappishly.

She turned back to Satoshi, but he wasn't looking at her anymore. He was staring, unblinking where she had directed his attention.

"What?" she asked.

She looked again. Satoshi pointed at the base of the mound

"Is that a foot? Look!" he ordered.

"Eh?" Naomi answered dumbly.

She looked again, and…

"Oh, my gosh!" she cried, leaping to her feet.

Poking out from underneath the overturned table was, recognizably, a girl's school slip-on shoe with the foot still inside it. Naomi stuffed the flashlight into Yuka's hands as she and Satoshi sprang into action, rushing over and grabbing the table on either side.

"Hang on!" Satoshi hollered to whoever it was. "Are you okay?"

He and Naomi grabbed the heavy piece of board and heaved, lifting it off the person's leg and pulling it back. With it fully free it from the pile, they looked down at the girl that had been possibly trapped underneath, and froze. The hunk of wood dropped from their hands and clattered to the floor. Naomi's head slowly turned from side to side as she took a step back as she brought her hands up to her face. Satoshi was as unmoving as a sculpture.

"What? What is it?" Yuka asked, suddenly very worried.

Even though she was holding the flashlight, her view was blocked by the older teens. She leaned to the side trying to see past them. Satoshi turned and looked behind at his sister. He honestly looked like he was going to be sick. He held up his hand to halt her.

"No… Don't look," he said.

"No… No…" Naomi whimpered.

"What? What is it?" Yuka asked, starting to shake.

Suddenly, Naomi screamed, spun around on her heels and ran from it. She stopped a few paces behind Yuka.

"Gg!" was the only sound Satoshi could make as he panicked.

He tried to move to block Yuka's view again, but was too late. Yuka let out a sickened cry, too, and covered her mouth with her free hand. Satoshi stopped and turned to her again slowly, and sadly. He stepped back, allowing her to see it completely unhindered. Behind them, Naomi had her back turned, hugging herself tightly and quietly sobbing.

Buried in that heap and under that slab was of wood was none other than a heavily decomposed corpse. It was roughly the same size as a high schooler, and it had on a middle school uniform similar to Yuka's. It was long dried out of any bodily juices and only a thin layer of cracked and dried skin still clung to the bones. A few long grayed and matted hairs were still imbedded in the scalp and hung over its face. There were a few strands of dried membrane over the empty eye sockets, possibly the remains of eyelids. The mouth hung up wider than human capacity with the lower jaw hanging eerily to one side. The poor thing was sat up against the wall with its head hanging to the side and arms twisted painfully in its lap. The other thing was note were the legs. They are broken in multiple places. Yuka shined the light overhead. There was a hole right over where the cadaver rested in the stack of aged floorboards, insulation, and plaster.

"Hu…" Yuka whimpered. "Human skeleton…!"

"What the hell is this?!" Naomi murmured between sobs.

Yuka's arm unconsciously fell to her side as she stared at it. Around the room, the floorboards creaked and moaned again. Naomi stopped her sobbing as she noticed the change. As she exhaled, her breath formed a fog as the room grew colder. Satoshi involuntarily shivered.

"Hey, is it getting colder in here?" he asked in surprise.

They all looked around. Now that they all thought about it, yes, it was. Naomi reluctantly turned and looked over her shoulder back at the horrid sight again.

"Satoshi… Yuka… We're in danger here. We should get going," she said quietly but firmly.

The Mochidas started to turn to her, but blue light shined in the corner of their eyes. Everyone's attentions snapped back to the carcass. It was glowing blue… No, something glowing blue rose up from it. It was a ball of blue fire that levitated up into the air until it was about eye level with them.

"Heee…-" Naomi squeaked.

Everyone took a step back and looked amongst themselves for answers, but no one had any. They didn't dare move. They didn't dare take their eyes off of this…thing, a second time. The blue flame spread out and took the basic shape of a person. They watched in frozen horrified silence as it then solidified and features began to appear and become more distinct.

"Y… Yo…" an echoing voice whispered, as if from all around.

The trio shuffled back again fearfully and looked in all directions for the source.

"Y…-you…" it hissed.

The echoing whispers slowly stopped and centered at a single place: the specter. Satoshi blinked and tilted his head slightly. It was a girl, about Yuka's age, and she was wearing the same uniform as the dead body. Her legs were even broken and twisted in odd angles in the exact same manner as well. Bone poked out through the skin and the skirt's material just under the knee. She had long black hair tied back in a yellow ribbon. She regarded them, not maliciously, but rather, kindly.

"You have been brought here…against your will…" she spoke.

Everyone gaped.

"Gho-ghost?!" Naomi shrieked.

She backed up into a table and almost knocked it over.

"It… It can't be! This isn't happening!" she cried.

Satoshi looked behind at him. He held up a hand, motioning for her to calm down.

"Naomi, please," he said, gently.

He faced the spirit again.

"Who are you?" he asked, despite his reluctance to do so.

"I am one who was also brought into this place. Dragged here by the revenant that governs this closed space," she answered solemnly.

The spirit winced and whimpered as her legs twitched painfully. Yuka's eyes darted from her face down to her legs and back.

"Are you hurt?" she asked, growing concerned for the spirit despite her fear.

"Yes, 'tis the pain of my death," she answered, quiet sobs.

"Pain of…what?" Satoshi exclaimed in confusion. "Where are we?!"

The spirit regarded him with a new sadness that frightened him. If it were sorrow over her own woeful circumstances, that would be one thing, but this seemed directed at them.

"…You aren't anywhere," she explained. "The five of you, are no longer in the world you came from."

Wha… What are you talking about?" Naomi asked, finally daring to speak.

"This place is a world of hatred of malice… a creation of the festering residual thoughts and emotions of a wicked revenant... It's a sealed dimensional space on a different plain than the world of the living. It occasionally leaks out into the real world, creating passages into it," the ghost answered.

"Is there an exit?" Yuka asked.

"Of course not, not now, anyway," the spirit girl replied. "If it were easy to escape, I would have when I first came here. Countless others have died here, too. All killed miserably like animals, unable to escape. I was killed in such a manner."

Satoshi's hands clenched into fists, he'd had just about enough of this.

"But why?!" he demanded. "Why have we been brought here?! We didn't do anything wrong! We were just preparing for our school's cultural festival!"

"I told you, this closed space was built on the hatred of the revenant that rules here. It had a close emotional attachment to the physical world after it died. It has killed many, and with each death, it grows stronger. The revenant has summoned many, many innocent humans to this place since that time."

"Wh-why? What does it want?!" Satoshi demanded, pulling at his own hair in frustration.

"I never learned its purpose. I do know it doesn't matter if you had anything to do with the revenant's death or not… She hates you just the same. But please, don't surrender your hope. There is one who has escaped this place… and that person was my Sister Dearest," she finished.

The girl hung her head miserably and started to hiccup as fresh tears fell. For the first time since the conversation ended, Satoshi found himself moved to pity for this spirit than simply fearing her.

"I'm sorry. You were left behind, but how? And how did your sister escape?" he asked.

"You need to find a way to lax the revenant's hold over this domain. Do that, and this closed space might just, 'spring a leak', so to speak, and seep out into the living world again. You may be able to find an exit. By careful…" As she spoke, the girl's image began to melt away and she voice was unstable. "Red spirits…are angry and vengeful…and beware…the girl in red…"

"Wait…who are...were, you!" Satoshi called after her.

The ghost girl continued to vanish. She sunk back down into her own lifeless body, fading back into blue flame before disappearing entirely.

"…Do not…end up like me…" the girl's voice whispered. "…One who can't even free herself from her own plight…and remember…beware the girl in red…"

The three Kisaragi students just stared after the ghost in utter silence. Yuka sunk down onto her knees and her gaze fell to the floor. Satoshi cautiously stepped closer to the lifeless shell of a former human being and knelt next to it on one knee. He reached into the skirt pocket and pulled out a small brown leather-bound booklet. He flipped it open. It was her Student ID: Hasegawa, Shiho. Class 3-2, Tendo Senior High School. The faded picture had she smiling cheerfully at the camera, a complete contrast to the miserable visage they had seen just a minute ago. He looked sorrowfully over her remains.

"I'm sorry," he whispered to her.

He slipped the booklet back where it came from, stood, and stepped back.

"Big Brother…" Yuka said, in a woeful little voice. "We can't go home again?"

Satoshi turned to her, and opened his mouth to answer, but hesitated. Spurred by his hesitation, Yuka stood back up and trotted up to him, doe-eyed and scared.

"We can go home, right?!" she asked frantically. "She's telling the truth, right?!"

Satoshi stared down at his young sibling, looking very depressed about the situation. Yuka grabbed the front of his shirt and yanked on it hard enough to make him sway back and forth.

"Big Brother!" Yuka cried, seriously starting to panic. "Listen to me! Hey! Hey!"

She shook him again, but he still didn't say anything as he debated just what the truth was.

"Come on, answer me!" Yuka begged. Her lip trembled as tears threatened to flow again. "Tell me we'll be alright!"

"Like I know?" But Satoshi kept this disheartened answer to himself.

He smacked his lips together briefly before replying.

"It'll all be fine, Yuka. We'll be home, soon," he spoke with as much conviction as his doubts allowed.

He shook off the feat and looked at Yuka again, now with his best smile.

"Don't worry. Your Big Brother is here, right?" he added, sounding optimistically to reassure Yuka.

"Yeah..." Yuka sounded doubtful, but at least her panic had passed.

Her arms dropped to her sides as she started sobbing again. Naomi came up from behind and patted the younger girl's shoulder.

"Just let it all out. There, there," Naomi said soothingly.

Naomi looked up from middle schooler to the boy, grinning.

"Seeing you like this with your sister, Satoshi… I just might have to change my opinion of you," she said, matter-of-factly.

"…Is that so?" he asked, uncertain of how to take that.

"Anyway," he then said, taking the flashlight from Yuka.

He put his hand under Yuka's chin and drew her head to look up at him.

"Come on. We have to get out of here, and we have to tell Yoshiki and Shinozaki what we've earned as soon as we can," he said determinedly.

Yuka nodded, wiping her eyes dry on her sleeve again.

"Feeling better now?" her older brother asked. "You're still tearing up?"

"I'm okay," Yuka answered.

"Alright, come on. Let's head out," Satoshi instructed.

He tossed the flashlight up, making it flip 360 degrees and then catching it again.

"We'll definitely escape!" he said, resolutely.

Both the girls nodded, humming, "Uh-huh!" enthusiastically. They left the room, having found nothing else of value in there. Beyond down the hall came to a T-section, but the way straight ahead was inaccessible to them thanks to a larger hole and a much smaller one. Satoshi judged the distance across the small gap it the floor. He guessed they could probably make it with a running start, but there was no way of knowing what the condition of the flooring on the other side. They'd probably need another of Naomi's 'bridges' before they could cross with even partial safety.

The way right, however, was open to them. The trio started down the narrow hall, not knowing what lied ahead or what they were going to do about it. They still pressed on, though, knowing that there was no turning back, and to do was nothing was to suffer the fate of poor Shiho. Behind them, they faintly heard her voice call after them, tenderly:

"_Good luck to you all…and never forget: beware the girl in red…_"

**Next Chapter****: Discord between Two Souls**

**A/N:** Yeah, I know, this is starting a little slow, and there is a reason for that. I have always been in favor of horror taking it's time before things go truly crazy.


	3. Chapter 3: Discord

**Corpse Party: Another Path**

_**Disclaimer:**_I do not own any _Corpse Party _related properties_._ It is the property of Team GrisGris and Makoto Kenouin. This is a fan work created to celebrate the opus. It is not intended to infringe on any copyrights.

**Chapter 3**

**Discord between Two Souls**

Yoshiki studied the narrow section of floor that remained. The rest had caved in a long time ago. He leaned forward as much as he safely could to cast the little canopy of light the candle generated ahead. It didn't quite reach the other side, but the positioning of the remaining floorboards told him that it was attached to more floor beyond.

"Hey, it looks like we won't be splitting up just yet, anyway. The floor's just a big hole down this way," Satoshi called to him from behind, but truth be told, Yoshiki only heard about half of it.

"Yeah…" Yoshiki responded, absently.

He only paid enough attention to what was going on behind him to hear Naomi say something before returning to the classroom they had gathered in. The Mochida siblings then started murmuring amongst themselves. Presently, the narrow strip of remaining floor was his main focus.

"Will it hold?" Yoshiki wondered.

He stepped forward and put his weight down on it. It complained under his weight, but didn't buckle, so he started inching his way forward. Ayumi tensed up behind him.

"Be careful, Kishinuma," she cautioned him, fretfully.

Yoshiki cautiously crossed over to the other side. He turned around and examined the boards trying to make out any additional wear. It looked fine. The only thing he had disturbed was dust. His eyes drifted up to Ayumi, standing just on the other side. Yoshiki held out his hand and leaned forward.

"Come on. It'll hold," he promised.

Ayumi looked at the path in front of her doubtfully.

"You can't just stay here. Here, take my hand," he urged.

Ayumi took a tiny step forward onto the slender 'bridge', and then another. Yoshiki's arm reached halfway across. In another small step, she was close enough to take his hand.

"I got you. Now just tread lightly," he said comfortingly.

Just having the support of another person was enough to make her cross the rest of the way at normal speed. Once on the other side, Ayumi promptly broke grip with Yoshiki, turning away from him in embarrassment. Yoshiki looked back across the gap toward the other group. Presently, it seemed that Naomi had used a board to give the other another avenue and both of the girls had already crossed. Presently, they were trying to coax Satoshi across.

"He said half-an-hour," Yoshiki reminded both himself and Ayumi. He turned to her. "Guess we better get going."

Ayumi nodded wordlessly. With that, they turned and walked up the hall. Yoshiki led the way with Ayumi at his back at all times. She stepped where he did, like a perfect shadow. Their steps were slow, as their single candle did not do much in the way of shedding light on their surroundings. Outside of the tiny canopy of dim light it generated, they were bathed in total darkness. Without the flashlight Miss Yui had given Satoshi, they were nearly blind. Yoshiki had already found that he had to hold it as far out and low to the floor as he could. It was the only way to avoid stepping in a hole. He kept his other hand near the flame at all times to try to protect it from having too much air moving around it.

If there were any writings or other features in the hall, they surely didn't know. On both sides against the walls, the floor was littered with pits big enough to fall through. The only way to keep moving forward with relative safety was to stay in the middle. Several times, Yoshiki did stop and hold the candle out to the sides to try to make out some details, landmarks, or something, but there was always just plain cedar wall. He held it up high, and sure enough, there were also plenty of holes in the ceiling, though he couldn't see past them into the floor above.

Every moment the darkness just beyond their little dome of light seemed deliberate and ominous. After about a dozen or so more yards, the floor became more solid and stable. They came up to a point where the right wall opened into the entrance to another hall. They inched closer to it. Just on the other side of the corner, another gash in the floor stretch clear around in front of them going left. Yoshiki and Ayumi followed it until they came to an old folding table that had been laid across the gap. It looked like the kind that would have a metal frame under the wood top, though. They experimentally headed a little farther left until they found the Northeast corner of the room, which opened into a narrower hall heading left. Better yet, it was only peppered with small holes they could step around.

Yoshiki stopped and turned partially to the side so that he could see Ayumi in the candlelight. She nodded insistently, wanting to go the safer route before trying something stupid that could result in someone falling down a pit and breaking bones. Yoshiko nodded once in return and they took the left path. They carefully made their way through until they found an opened door. Unluckily, the floor under the threshold had failed to stand up to the test of time. So they walked past, only stopping when they came upon an old piece of paper pinned to the wall. It read:

_Don't run in the halls._

_Mind your Ps and Qs._

_Make sure your mind and uniform are in order._

Yoshiki absently slapped his knuckles against the side of his leg, sighing. He should have known better than to expect something helpful from an old note posted by the faculty that used to work there. Though the last thing mentioned did strike him as odd. Ayumi started to step away, and he followed, only giving the note a quick second glance…and stopping dead when he realized it had somehow changed. Blood red letters had by some means gotten printed over some of the original lettering just in the brief second he hadn't been looking.

_Don't run in the hElls._

_DontblEed_

_feSeEt EnTeHcEk LhIaEnSds_

"Kishinuma?" Ayumi asked, somewhat impatiently.

Yoshiki managed to tear himself away from the message and look at her with that dumbstruck look frozen on his face. Then he looked back at the notice, and this time just failed to react at all. It had changed again. New bloody red letters had covered the message top to bottom. He could still see the first change under them.

"_diediediediediediediediediediediediediedie_

_diediediediediediediediediediediediediedie_

_diediediediediediediediediediediediediedie"_

He blinked a few time, rubbed his eyes, but nothing changed.

"Just what the hell?! Did I just read it wrong before?" he asked himself, though he knew he hadn't.

"What? Kishinuma, what is it?" Ayumi asked, growing scared again.

She looked at the note and nearly screamed. Instead, she merely gasped, covering her mouth with her hands. She started to slowly back away, but Yoshiki was quick and grabbed her arm to stop herself from backing into any pits that were probably behind her.

"Kishinuma!" Ayumi cried.

"Yeah," Yoshiki managed to blurt out.

He walked ahead, past Ayumi's left. He grabbed her right hand, turning her around as he went and starting leading her away. They had to get out of there, _now_.

SPLAT! They both froze again. It sounded like liquid hitting glass behind them. They both slowly looked over their shoulder into the darkness behind them. While Yoshiki's stare was simply tense, Ayumi's gaze was wide-eyed and fearful. Then her expression changed as she suddenly heard a ringing in her ear. She let out a throaty cry and clutched the sides of her head painfully. She groaned in pain before crying out again, this time sounding like a child that had just skinned her knee. Yoshiki was by her side in an instant, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Shinozaki, are you alright?" he asked in concern.

The boards creaked heavily further back, filling both teenagers with a sudden sense of dread. Yoshiki's head snapped around in the direction they were heading and he outstretched the hand holding the candle. There was alcove just to their right ahead of them.

"To HELL with this!" he thought, as jumbled emotions fought for control.

He strode forward pulling Ayumi with him through it. She allowed herself to be pulled along, still gripping the side of her head in one hand. Ayumi closed her eyes, and when she reopened them, she couldn't tell she had. Panic ceased her.

"Kishinuma, everything's fuzzy, I can't see!" she shouted.

"What?!" Yoshiki answered, flabbergasted.

The creaks from the floorboards were getting louder and nearer. Yoshiki peaked around the corner of the little recess. Around the corner, they found stairs heading up.

"There are stairs in here, start climbing when I tell you to," he answered.

"Okay," she complied, tearfully.

The candle's light was like a tiny beacon in the distance. She was entirely reliant on Kishinuma now. He wasted no time going up the flight to the next floor pulling Ayumi with him. Up they went one flight, onto the landing, up the second set, and onto the second floor landing. It was there they came to a hall marked, "2F – North Wing". Yoshiki pulled Ayumi close wrapping his arm around her to keep her from losing him in the pitch blackness that was her sight right now. He arched the candle around in front. Only a small strip of floor remained for them to cross, like before. Yoshiki walked through sideways just so he could keep Ayumi nearby. Once out in the hall, he found they could go left or right. Like before, the floorboards had given away near the walls leaving just the middle traversable.

Ayumi blinked and rubbed her eyes as the intense buzzing in her head started to subside. She lowered her hands from her eyes and tried looking around again. Her vision was a lot clearer now, but still not perfect. She could clearly see the candlelight and make out the shape of everything it shined on, even if it was still a little fuzzy. Her body relaxed as she started feeling better again.

"Shinozaki?"

She looked at him in response to his worried tone.

"How are your eyes?" he asked.

She blinked a few more times.

"Better, but…" she trailed off and raised a hand to lay it on her forehead.

"Good," he answered.

He reluctantly dropped his grip on her and started to turn around to make sure they weren't being followed. No sooner had he turned his back did Shinozaki's bloodcurdling shriek of terror and pain ring out. He spun back around, almost putting out the candle.

"Shinozaki!" he yelled in alarm.

The Class Rep was standing hunched over with her back to him, shaking and screaming like she was being tortured. He grabbed her shoulder, but she pulled away from him, turning herself partially around. Now Yoshiki saw what the problem was. Ayumi was clutching her left wrist tightly in her hand.

Ayumi stared in horror at the oozing bloody stump where her left hand had once been. She let out another agonized scream as her mind completely blanked and her body moved in instinct. She started to dash forward.

"ShinozakI!" Yoshiki shouted to stop her.

He set the candle down and LUNGED! He managed to tackle her from behind, wrapping his hands around her stomach before she could get away, bearing her to the ground. Under him, she struggled and bucked, yelling and screaming. He laid his body over hers' and grabbed her wrists to keep her from thrashing around.

"Shinozaki, what was gotten into you!" he demanded.

Ayumi's eyes were still transfixed on the profusely bleeding wound.

"MY HAND! MY HAND!" she finally shrieked.

"What about your hand?!" Yoshiki demanded.

He turned her over on her back and brought her left hand up his eyes, inspecting it for wound. Nothing, there was nothing wrong with it. It was a perfectly healthy hand with four fingers and a thumb.

"It's gone! Somebody took my hand!" she wailed.

"No, they didn't! See?!"

He grabbed it tightly. Ayumi finally stopped thrashing around, feeling the touch of another in what she had thought was gone. The searing pain also started to melt away as reality hit. She opened teary eyes and instead of seeing the horrid sight of bone sticking up from the gaping wound, she saw she was still whole. While she stared at it, she felt Yoshiki's weight leave her and she sat up. She didn't take her eyes off of those five digits, not even for a second.

She opened and closed it a few times, still trying to decide what was real and what wasn't. The candle glow filled the upper portion of her vision and she looked up to see Yoshiki offering to help her up. He also looked very freaked out about what had just happened. Ayumi reached up, taking her hand, which was very much still there, in his, and he pulled her to her feet.

"Did… Did it really look like it was gone to you just now?" Yoshiki forced himself to ask.

"It _felt _like it was gone, too," Ayumi said, sobbing a little again. "It was like someone had just taken an ax to my arm."

"Just what the hell is going on here?!" Yoshiki growled. He was angry, no, he was furious, at everything. That place, and especially at whoever had brought them there, for what the ordeal was obviously doing to Ayumi's mind. Seeing Ayumi shake next to him wasn't helping calm him down any faster, either.

"Kishinuma…" she spoke, barely above a whisper, as loudly as she dared.

"Yeah?" he answered as calmly as he could.

"There is something very wrong with this place," she said.

"No kidding," he attempted to keep that under his breath.

"No…" Ayumi insisted, still straining from the pain in her head. "It's _worse_ than you could think."

"Worse than being trapped in a broken down building by some maniac?" Yoshiki asked drolly.

Ayumi looked at him through one eye. The other was squeezed shut as the throbbing pain worsened again. Suddenly, Ayumi started muttering to herself, only it sounded like complete nonsense. Yoshiki regarded her in confusion.

"Shinozaki?" he asked.

"Hmm? Yeah?" she answered, normally.

"What were you just saying?" he asked.

Ayumi blinked in confusion.

"Kishinuma… I didn't say anything," she told him.

He looked at her, fast losing his patience.

"Don't give me that. You were muttering something under your breath. I even saw your lips moving," he insisted.

Ayumi shrugged, not knowing what else to tell him.

"I'm sorry, but it must have been the candlelight playing tricks with your eyes," she answered. "Everything I've had to say, I've said _to_ you."

Yoshiki rolled his eyes, but waved his hand dismissively.

"Whatever."

He didn't want to argue about it, not while they were still trapped in that wretched place. He looked down both ways they could go. With no a clear indications, he picked a random direction and started left. As they went, the pressure they feet put on the old floorboards made them creak and groan practically in inharmonious chorus. In their hurry, they almost missed another note tacked on to the wall on their left. Yoshiki held the flame up to it, making the letters legible.

"_If you die here, the pain of your death will continue for eternity,"_ read the first line.

"_No matter how it hurts, no matter you bear it, no matter how much you cry out… There is no escaping from that pain."_

Yoshiki's features twisted, becoming an expression trapped somewhere between disgust and bafflement, mixed with a little terror. The worst was there was still more to read:

"_You cannot pass on after death down here. In this horrible darkness, you will come to regret ever being born, as I have."_

"What is with this place? Wait…did it just colder in there?" Yoshiki uttered his displeasure in a whisper.

He suddenly felt breath on the back of his neck, quick and shallow. It sent chills down his spine, but he told herself that it was just the Class Rep. He started to turn around.

"Hey, that, you, Shino… GAHH!"

He nearly jumped out of his skin at the side of big, predatory eyes belonging to Ayumi staring into him. He stumbled a couple more paces away, holding his heart, which was thundering with the intensity of a marching band in his chest.

"Shinozaki, don't do that to a guy…" he started to say.

When he looked at her again, he lost his words. She hadn't responded to his outburst at all. No frightful reaction of her own, no laughter at his expense, nothing, and that was how he knew something was wrong. She just stood here, staring at him with cold, wide, and unblinking eyes like a dead man's. Her posture was wrong, too. Her legs and arms were a little too stiffly straight in their positioning, and her arms swayed back and forth slightly like a marionette's might. Her head was leaned unnaturally to the side, reminding Yoshiki a lot of a hanged man. She seemed to be studying him. Her breathing was off, too. It was rapid and shallow, almost lustful, like an animal might do in anticipation of having an immediate need about to be fulfilled.

"Shino…zaki…?" he managed to murmur, beside himself.

Then, slowly but surely, a smile spread over her face. It wasn't a pleasant smile, nor did it seem to hint at any sign of happiness. It was more like a carnivore baring its fangs at its prey. Yoshiki found himself taking a step back in retreat, from Ayumi, the very girl he swore to protect. Then, she moved forward a stiff doll-like step. Yoshiki tensed, holding up his forearm across his body to defend himself.

The attack never came. Whether dream or reality, the moment passed and the world was as it should be and Ayumi was standing in front of him with her hands on her hips, pouting.

"And what, _pray tell_, is _that _look all about?" she demanded.

Yoshiki slowly lowered his arm again, gaping.

"But, I…! But, you…!" he stammered.

"But _what_?!" Ayumi demanded. She hugged herself, rubbing her cold arms. "It's freezing in here! We need to get going, Kishinuma!"

"…Yeah," Yoshiki's reply droned out hesitantly.

He shook his head, deciding that the whole thing was just that place getting to him.

"Keep it together, Yoshiki. You can't lose it with the whole gang possibly depending on _you_," he told himself.

"Let's just keep going," Yoshiki told his Class Rep.

"NO argument here," Ayumi muttered.

They pressed on and after about a dozen or so more steps, they found a pair of cabinets with broken glass doors on their left. Yoshiki approached the first of them and shined the light up to it. It was mostly just junk – old issues of the school paper, some textbooks, and little torn page that just read one thing: _"Without cooperation, escape is impossible."_

Yoshiki and Ayumi ventured over to the next one. More clutter, and another torn page: _"Find the ten letters!"_

"Who's leaving this stuff around?" Yoshiki asked aloud.

"I don't know," Ayumi answered. She fearfully looked over her shoulder. "Somehow, it feels like the ones who left these messages aren't far away."

Yoshiki glanced over at her, his face unreadable.

"Don't panic. We haven't run into another soul yet. I doubt that anyone else is still here other than Satoshi, Nakashima, and Yuka," he said.

Ayumi looked away, nervously.

"I don't know about that," Ayumi whispered erratically.

She wrapped herself in her arms again and looked out into the shadows.

"I can feel all kinds of eyes on us," her voice was cracked by this point.

Yoshiki smiled for her sake. When she turned back around, she saw it his reassuring expression.

"I'm _sure _you're just imagining things," he said, as if trying to sooth a child.

Ayumi made a disagreeing noise with her throat, but said nothing. Yoshiki started down the hall again. They passed a pair of sliding doors on the other side of collapsed floor. Someone had placed a plank to cross it. The doors looked tightly shut, so they walked on past until they reached the end. The last door was also to the left. It was so dark that they couldn't see inside, like there was a palpable shadow hanging all over the interior. Yoshiki and Ayumi exchanged a quick glance nodded to confirm their next action, and stepped inside.

They both stopped dead the instant they were past the door. Neither could react, or move, or vocalize their shock. What they were seeing could not have been any farther than they anticipated. They had thought to enter and find a musty old lecture room. Instead, they were suddenly standing in Room 2-9 of Kisaragi Academy. It was only for a split second, and then like a movie dissolve, the image vanished. It was in turn quickly replaced with the musty rundown enclosure they had originally predicted. Both teens stood, eyes and mouths open wide. Ayumi was the first to recover, rubbing her eyes and then looking again. Indeed, they were still in the drab wreck they'd woken up in. Beside her, Yoshiki was blinking dumbly.

"Hey…hey, wasn't this…?" she hesitantly asked, unsure of what she'd seen or what to say.

"Our…class?" Yoshiki finished for her.

They exchanged another glance, gobsmacked that the other had also seen it, too. Before either could react, or even think, though, the ground shook as it had when they were first brought. They cried out as they swayed back and forth trying to not lose their footing. Then, something unseen gripped them and launched them backwards, back out of the room. Ayumi screamed in panic as they were suddenly in the air! They flew through the open door and landed roughly on the floor. Yoshiki and Ayumi's worlds were spinning and being in total darkness did not help make it stop. The candle had gone out, but was hopefully not lost.

Ayumi felt the floor around her with her arms. She felt it end next to her on the right, so she rolled left onto her stomach. She got up on her hands and heard Yoshiki, or who she hoped was Yoshiki, similarly shuffling about in the pitch black around them. Ayumi opened her mouth to call out his name, if only to confirm that it was, in fact, him. She had to swallow her courage, but she did it.

"Kishinuma?" she called, softly.

"Yeah?" he answered, about five feet away.

"Oh, Thank God!" she almost wept.

She managed to calm down a little bit.

"Kishinuma," she repeated.

"What?" he sounded annoyed now.

"You don't happen to still have the candle, do you?" she asked, while silently praying that he did.

His silence told her he didn't. Ayumi swore under her breath.

"No…" he admitted. "I dropped after… What the hell just happened?!"

Ayumi didn't answer. She was too engrossed in fumbling through his pockets trying to dig out her matchbook.

"Shinozaki?" Yoshiki called, slightly alarmed at her lack of answer.

"I don't know, Kishinuma!" she snapped.

She held up the matchbook in front of her face and opened it slightly. She reached in and managed to dig out one of the precious little sticks inside. She closed the box again and held the match to its side. With a jerking motion, Ayumi grinned triumphantly as she managed to get it lit on the first try. She held it up, and found herself staring at a face in the dark not Yoshiki's. It grinned at her as Ayumi tried to jerk back away from it, but its hand shot out, gripping the girl by the wrist tightly, holding her and the little flame in place. She could only make out gray skin and ratty black hair falling over the face of whoever it was. Ayumi opened to scream. In quiet counterpoint to Ayumi's cry, the face simply puckered its lips and blow out the candle. Then it released her and Ayumi was allowed to recoil back from her attacker.

"Shinozaki!" Yoshiki shouted in alarm.

He crawled forward, feeling his way toward where he'd briefly seen light pierce the black. Ayumi was bathed in darkness again as she reeled back, falling onto her back. She kept a tight hold of her little matchbook and she scooted across the floor away from whoever it was! She had only seen it briefly, but the face looked like a young woman, but it was all wrong… Her gray, dirty face with cracked skin and completely red eyes.

Something grabbed her from behind! Ayumi screamed again, lashing out with her fists and legs. The person shouted something at her, but she didn't listen, instead turning herself around and striking out at them with all her might. Her attacked grabbed her wrists and lunged forward, pinning her down. Trapped under the weight of someone a lot bigger and stronger than her, Ayumi screamed again.

"NO! Let me go! Somebody help me! Kishinuma! Mochida! HELLLP!"

"Would you stop?! It's me, idiot!" the familiar voice shouted at her from directly overhead.

Ayumi stopped struggling.

"Kishinuma?" she squeaked.

Kishinuma let go of her wrists and backed off of her with a heavy sigh. Her eyes had somewhat adjusted to the dark, so she could kind of see his form move back. She sat up, facing him.

"What happened? That's the second time I had to do that to get you stop panicking," he asked, audibly agitated.

"There was someone here," Ayumi answered in a tiny voice.

She drew her arms and legs in close for fear they were still nearby.

"He… She… I don't know… They smiled and blew out the candle," she explained.

She opened the fist she'd closed around her matchbook and took out another match. After a couple tries, she managed to light it up and held it up between Kishinuma and herself. She could _just_ see him in the light of the tiny flame.

"Come on, we better find that candle before we run out of matches," he said.

"Uh-huh," she agreed without faltering.

She slowly got up, careful not to douse the flame. She held the matchbook up the light and slid it open. It was still about half full. They could survive without the candle for a little while. She walked slowly around the immediate area, crouching and bent over trying to make out her little white candle in the dark. It wasn't long before the flame had gone down the wooden stick towards her fingers and she had to light another. Two more after that came and went before they finally found the lost candle, which had thankfully not fallen down a crevice. It was just outside the door they were thrown out of. It had fallen out of its holder, which was lying right next to it.

Yoshiki bent down and picked both up and set the wax work back in its place. Ayumi lit it back up, noting unhappily that it was starting to get low on wax. Curiously, Yoshiki looked into the room they'd been ejected from. He stepped into the doorway.

"Kishinuma…" Ayumi warned, apprehensively.

He looked back at her as if to tell her not to worry, and then tried to step through that door. There was a bright blue flash and something hit him again. Yoshiki grunted in pain as he was thrown back hard enough to slide backward across the floor. Ayumi cried out as he flew past a few feet. Her eyes managed to follow him. Yoshiki only avoided falling by dropping to one knee digging into the floor with his heels. The candle's light almost went out again.

"Kishinuma!" Ayumi called to him, worry in her voice.

"…I'm fine," he answered breathlessly.

He stared at the door, uncomprehending.

"What the hell?" he asked for the nth time that evening.

"Kishinuma!" Ayumi cried, running to his side.

"I'm fine," he repeated, more certainly this time.

He stood back up while Ayumi looked him up and down for any sign of injury. His eyes were still glued to that impossible door.

"Shinozaki," he finally said.

"Yes," she answered.

He looked at her with eyes displaying just how freaked out he was, unable to brush this one off.

"You were right. There is _definitely_ something very wrong here, worse than we thought," he at last admitted as much to himself as to her.

Ayumi gulped, and nodded slightly. She glanced over at the room where they'd seen… What? A vision, a hallucination, of their homeroom? From their current vantage point, all they could make out was the dim outline of the open door under the pale candlelight. She pressed her thumb to her chin as she mulled it over.

"What is this place?" Ayumi started talking to herself. "It feels like death and weird things have been happening since we got here. And just now…when we were in there…I…I could have sworn I saw blinking red lights like cop car lights shining in through the windows."

"What are you talking about?" Yoshiki asked.

She turned and faced him.

"When I saw _our _classroom, there were police car lights shining through the glass before…" she trailed off.

Yoshiki nodded.

"You saw them, too?!" he asked.

"Yeah," she answered, quietly.

"You don't think we'll find Miss Yui in here, do you?" Yoshiki suddenly asked.

Ayumi thought about it, and then shook her head.

"No, because who else would have called the police?" she answered.

Yoshiki glanced at her, skeptically.

"You're saying that we _really_ saw our classroom in there?" he asked, gesturing over to it with his free hand.

Ayumi looked up at him with the first stare of certainty she'd had since waking up.

"Mm-hmm. Kishinuma, we just got tossed around by an invisible…_something_, that didn't just drag us out of there. It _lifted_ two seventeen year olds off the ground and _threw us_ several feet into the air," she said, firmly. "Yes, Kishinuma. I don't know how, but we stepped back into our classroom for just a second, but now we're…not even in the same building."

"Then that would mean Miss Yui knows we're missing and called the cops, if that's true," Yoshiki commented.

"That's right!" Ayumi exclaimed passionately.

Yoshiki's lips twisted up into a sneer as his frustrated mind to put the pieces together, but they either didn't fit or there were still blank spots needing filling.

"So, we're caught up in one of your ghost stories come to life?" Yoshiki asked.

"All stories have to come from somewhere, and they're usually a shade of the truth. You wouldn't believe some things that have turned out to be true," she told him.

Then she hung her head as the dread welled up in her. Yoshiki couldn't deny that there was nothing mundane about this situation now. Though a part of him didn't _want _to buy that they had somehow gotten themselves trapped in a haunted building, but the other part of him that was grounded in reality was making him be frank about the situation.

"We better hurry. Whave to get out of here," Yoshiki said.

"Then we better get moving. The candle won't last forever" she told him.

Yoshiko nodded and the shined the light around them again. The only way left to go was to the right of the room they were thrown from, down another hallway. They started down it only to come to a dead end.

"I'm getting' tired of all these pits," Yoshiki groaned.

He kicked a piece of debris down into the abyss restlessly. He outstretched his arm, trying to make the light reach the other side. He could just barely make out the jagged edges of the opposite side. He judged the distance to be about twenty across at the longest and ten at the shortest point. No way were they making that, especially with such limited light.

"Kishinuma, bring the light over here," Ayumi called behind him.

"Coming," he answered.

He turned around and found Ayumi standing by another pair of cabinets with glass doors. He went over and they started searching for something of value. Amongst them, they spotted two pieces of paper newer than the rest, that there crumpled up and left among the scrap. Yoshiki and Ayumi unwrapped both papers. It looked like each had a message written on them from one person to the other, followed by a response. The handwriting of both appeared to be feminine. The one Yoshiki held was marked, 'Letter #02' while Ayumi was apparently the first.

"'By the basement, there is a incinerator.' ; 'Is that so? What should we do?'," she read from the wrinkled page.

"'On the wall, next to the poster, there is a secret button.' ; '… Next to the poster? …What?'" Yoshiki read off of his.

They exchanged looks, both looking as clueless as the other. Yoshiki shrugged, first folding his and then pocketing it.

"It's probably for the best if we take these along," he said.

"Probably…" Ayumi hummed.

She folded the one she had up and handed it to Yoshiki, who also put in his jacket pocket next to its partner. They then turned to back to the gap.

"Nowhere to go but to start headin' back," Yoshiki said.

Wordlessly, both teens turned and went back the way they came. Hopefully, they'd find another route they'd missed on the way in.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the South Wing of the second floor…

"_Good luck to you all…and never forget: beware the girl in red…_"

Satoshi, Naomi, and Yuka reached the end of the narrow hall, which turned right, opening into a wider area. This new area had a funny smell that wasn't quite bad, but not good. They wandered further ahead about three more yards before coming to a stop as the circle of guiding light passed some scratched on the floor and landing on something not floorboard.

"What is _that_?" Naomi exclaimed.

It looked green, and gooey. The sickly substance covered the floor from end to dared go a little closer. By then, the smell had gotten stronger turning into a strong stench. It reminded Naomi of rotten meat and was _definitely _coming from the green mucus-like substance. The trio cautiously approached it, and as they did, the smell of decayed flesh redoubled and forced its way into their nostrils. Yuka covered her mouth to try to keep from vomiting, but the smell burned all the way down her throat and made her eyes water. There was also a strong hint of rotting fecal matter and urine. Yet there was also an underlying sickly, cloying odor as well that was almost sweet.

"Oh, my God! What is that?!" Naomi cried, sounding nasal due to her plugged nose.

Satoshi took a good look at the source and felt ill. This was nothing like the dried out husk back in that room. This was something else entirely. The stinking juice's thickness seemed to alternate anywhere from ordinary mud to chewing gum. It also looked like there were random bulges in the muck all over that seemed to have some definite shape like something was underneath. One thing was for certain, if they were going to press on, they were going to have to _walk_ on this stuff.

Trying to breathe through his mouth which he kept covered with his shirt Satoshi picked up a stick and poked one of the more looking random masses in the muck. It punctured the surface, popping the lump like a bubble and dispersing forth rotten air. It washed over them, intensifying the smell tenfold. Naomi and Yuka cried out in disgust. By now, all three of them were covering their noses and mouths in their shirts.

"Aw, man! Bleh!" Naomi heaved, but tried to stop from puking. She glared over at the boy. "Way to _go_, Mochida!"

"Quiet," Satoshi answered plainly.

His stick had hit something solid underneath it. He got down on his knee in front of the lump where he stood at the edge of the bile. Using his impromptu tool, he swept aside the thick gunk, uncovering what was underneath. It made a sickly slurping sound as he poked and prodded at it, sending shudders through Naomi's body. Finally, he managed to wipe off a particularly thick clump of the stuff, revealing a slime-covered human skull that grinned up at them. Satoshi shot back up and backed away, and the two girls followed his example.

"He died in that stuff?" Yuka asked, horrified.

"But how?" Naomi asked.

Her arm fell back to her side, shining right down on the floor. Yuka happened to look down before glancing back up at the thick, milky substance. Then, she realized what she saw and looked back down.

"Hey, guys," Yuka spoke up.

"Hmm?" Satoshi and Naomi glanced at her.

"Look," Yuka pointed at the floor. "Someone scratched a message into the floor."

Naomi trained the flashlight squarely on one of the marks and was distinctly able to make out the word "wanna", but it was upside down to her perspective. She turned around and back up just enough to be able to pass the light over the words.

"…The green slime here absorbs a living person's life energy," she said aloud as the light passed over each scratch. "If you wanna die, feel free to roll in it."

"Oh, great," Yuka muttered sarcastically.

Satoshi leaned back against the wall, brushing his elbow against some paper in the process. He glanced over and saw a notice pinned to the wall.

"Hey, we got something else over here," he said.

Naomi shined the light over at him, catching sight of the note:

"Twinkling lights shall illuminate your path and become a bridge to you," it read.

"What does that even mean?" Naomi demanded.

Satoshi shrugged.

"Dunno," he answered, honestly.

He looked over at the girls.

"For now, let's just get away from…" he looked over at the bile, wrinkling his nose at the stench. "This… _stuff_."

"Hang on," Naomi suggested.

She looked around for an instant and then walked over to a small pile of junk. She dragged over a detached floorboard. She went up to the goo and tossed it over the vile stuff to try forging a way across. The board landed in the bile with a splatter, and it seemed to work. Naomi smiled triumphantly and hiked up her skirt a bit in preparation to step on it. Yuka looked uncertain at the prospect of crossing over that foul smelling stuff even with something dropped over it, and Satoshi just stood studying it. No sooner had Naomi started to lift her foot from the floor did it happen. With a sickening sucking sound, the green slime moved with conscious action, forcing its way up the food, and covering the board. Naomi stepped back, allowing her shoulders to sag.

"Well, so much for that," she said, defeated. She turned to Satoshi. "Like you said, let's get going."

They all felt like they could not move fast enough away from that disgusting stuff that seemed to have a mind of its own. They wanted to get out of there before it got any ideas of trying to consume them. They went back through the hall they'd just come through, back to the T-section with the way to right was blocked by holes. Heading left would just take them back where they came. Satoshi glanced at the two fissures in the floor, one larger and one smaller.

"We could probably cross if we had something to through across it," he said.

"Guess we have another loose board to find," Naomi sighed.

* * *

North Wing, 1st Floor…

Yoshiki and Ayumi came back down to the first floor, having found nothing else they could do upstairs. They wearily glanced to their left, back down the way where they read the note and that horrid noise had spooked them earlier. Wandering forward a few more steps, the light managed to reach the opposite wall and showed an alternate route that straight ahead from the stairs.

"Hey, let's go this way, instead," Yoshiki suggested.

Ayumi nodded and followed after him and they headed down that way. After about thirty feet, they came to the end of the hall. There was a corridor continuing straight and one turning heading left. The floor ahead was too damaged for them to cross, but they were able to go left, even if it was across yet another narrow strip of still standing floor. The only thing here was a ten-by-six foot space and two doors to the left.

Yoshiki walked up and tried to the first one. It was locked, but had a large glass window. "Security Guard Room 1" was written into the glass in black letters. So he moved onto the next one: "Security Guard Room 2" and it was also locked. Yoshiki backed up a step, looking over the glass window. He betted that he could break it in with something, reach through, and unlock it that way. He glanced over at the Class Rep.

"They're both shut up tight, but I'd wager we can get in if we can smash these windows in," he suggested.

"Let's try unlocking them the right way first," Ayumi replied dissuasively.

Yoshiki chuckled, and nodded in agreement.

"Then we need to find ourselves some keys," he said.

* * *

North Wing, 2nd Floor…

"And… Push it over!" Naomi ordered.

She and Satoshi pushed the table over onto its top with the legs sticking up in the air. It fell over the hole keeping them from further exploring the main hallway of the second floor.

"Bet you're glad we didn't backtract to get that first board way, way back at the start," Satoshi cracked.

"Shut up and get moving, slow poke," Naomi retorted, elbowing him in the ribs.

Satoshi looked back at his little sister, who stood behind them.

"You go first, Yuka. You're the lightest person here," he said.

"Yes," Yuka nodded.

She walked past the taller, older teens and carefully crossed the table, making sure not to shift it around too much. It held just fine after she'd reached the other side. Satoshi gestured for Naomi to go next. Naomi nodded and stepped onto the wooden surface as well. She walked perfectly centered, also to keep their way across from dislodging it and taking her for a ride. Once she was on the other side, she turned and shined the light to guide Satoshi across. He was last, having no choice but to go slow thanks to his bad ankle.

He stepped off the table bottom and onto solid floor. Now with everyone together again, Naomi surveyed their new surroundings with the torch. The hall only went a little ways back before coming to another gap with a dresser randomly sitting in the middle of the room. On their left, stairs led both back down to the first floor and on to the third.

"Well," Naomi muttered. They wandered over towards their options, stopping in front of the stairwell. She looked to the Mochidas for a vote. "Where now?"

"Let's try the stairs first," Yuka suggested timidly.

Satoshi glanced at her, and then back at Naomi. He nodded in agreement to that sentiment. He knew they'd been lucky that their little bridges didn't just give way under them so far. It was better to play it safe unless they actually needed to go further down the second floor hallway.

"Downstairs, it is," Naomi confirmed.

"…_Don't die…I won't let you die…"_

Naomi whirled around at sudden whisper in her ears, pointing the flashlight in every possible direction.

"Who was that? Show yourself!" she demanded.

Satoshi gulped and walked toward the stairs. He tapped Naomi on the shoulder as he went.

"Come on. Let's just go," he told her.

"Yeah…" Naomi answered absently.

The girls followed him downstairs, and right at the bottom of the first floor landing, there was a little blue flame waiting for them. They stepped on the penultimate step, regarding it cautiously.

"Hello?" Yuka greeted, uncertain of what this spirit would do.

"…_Read every poster, note, and search every bookcase, shelf, and drawer you come across. Only through thorough investigation of every possible avenue will you escape. The answers are here. You just have to find them,"_ it advised and then vanished.

Satoshi let out a whoosh of air. He'd been holding his breath.

"Hey, guys, I think we've been very lucky with the spirits we've met. So far we haven't met any of the angry ones that girl spoke of," Naomi said.

"Yeah, but I wouldn't count on our luck holding out forever," Satoshi replied uneasily.

They entered the downstairs hall and noticed that it smelled down there as well. With a look around, they found their path leading left and then taking another left just past the stairs. They pressed on, starting to pass about four feet worth of wall, when…

**Splat!**

"Gah!" Naomi cried out. She jumped back from whatever she'd just stepped in.

She startled both the Mochidas. Yuka squeaked and grabbed hold of her brother's arm for dear life. Satoshi, leaned forward resting his hands on his knees as he tried to recover from having half the life scared out of him. He glowered over at Naomi wearily.

"What did I step in?!" Naomi cried.

She directed the circle of light at her feet and promptly jumped back another step, gasping loudly. she nearly dropped the flashlight. Piled on the floor at the base of the wall were clumps of raw meat that looked like they'd been pounded relentlessly. There were the scant remains of what might have been clothes mixed in with gore covered shoes sticking up from the mess. Satoshi as the first to look spot it after Naomi. Acting on instinct, he turned Yuka's head away.

"Oh my G…! Yuka, don't look!" he told her, his voice strained with disgust and horror.

Naomi, mouth agape and eyes wide, slowly passed the light to the wall. There were countless dried blood stains all over it. It was like this person had been hoisted into the air and then repeatedly slammed against the wall until their body was completely broken and left to rot. Satoshi wretched and clamped a hand over his mouth. His cheeks bulged and then he shoved Yuka away. He turned around so neither girl could see what was he about to do and emptied whatever had remained of his lunch onto the floor.

"Big Brother!" Yuka cried. She laid a hand on his back while he stood dry heaving.

"Oh God! Oh, my gah…-!" he rasped between wretches and coughs.

Naomi turned away from the sordid tale the sight told, shutting her eyes tightly.

"To be killed like that…" she thought, unable to even comprehend how someone could do that to another person.

Naomi briskly walked past the splattered remains that had, formerly, been human.

"Hey…wait up," Satoshi croaked.

He weakly tried to follow her, but the process of vomiting left him feeling momentarily weak.

"Big Brother, lean on me," Yuka told him. She wrapped one of his arms around her shoulders as they pursued Naomi.

Naomi stomped around the corner now keeping the light right where her feet would be immediately going. She paused and looked over to them.

"Stay in the middle. The floor's lined with more of the green crap!" she informed them.

"Right," both Mochidas answered.

Naomi led them through the hallway, and they stepped where she did. At first, their way was straight and narrow, but then veered off to the right on account of _another _hole in the floor which they had to go around. For a moment, they had to walk putting one foot directly in front of the other to stay within the narrow stepping space between nothingness and life-draining fluid. Then they reached another impasse. They could go left, a way paved with more juice, and steps heading up. The alcove was marked, 'Inner Wing, 2F'. They didn't even need to discuss the matter. Up they went.

Once upstairs, their way was obvious again. There was no floor on their left, and there was little on their right. The only things of note were five cupboards, after which the floor ended again. They inspected the first cabinet, which was adorned with various children's drawings. There was nothing of note except for one questionable illustration of a devil strangling an angel.

"…The hell?" Satoshi thought. "Who would even draw that?"

A school newspaper was pinned to the front of the next cabinet. It was mostly unreadable, but a few words could still be discerned: "March 21st, Day: Tuesday, Class 2-9's… _ki… suddenly… went missing…"

"Something went missing? What? And 2-9's our class, isn't it?" Naomi muttered. "It's so tattered I can't read the rest."

Satoshi hummed in response. They moved onto the next one. It contained teacher's manuals, grade books, and other manner of random assorted texts one would find in a school cupboard. However, a yellowed piece of paper stuck out from the pages of one of them. Yuka carefully pulled it out as to not rip it, but she found her caution ill spent. Only a few words were still legible.

"_The late... become deceased… The academy's reputation… our reputation… cover it up."_

"Money mishandling?" Yuka asked.

Satoshi and Naomi could only shrug before going over to the second to last cubbyhole. Satoshi pulled it open the instant one of the doors was within arm's reach, but something inside pushed it open faster than he had intended, making him withdraw his hand quickly. It was the weight of glass shards that had been packed inside. They poured out like a wave, making him step back in alarm. They shattered loudly into even smaller pieces in front of them while other shards fell through floor cracks.

"Geez!" he exclaimed.

"That could have hurt someone if they opened it standing right in front of it!" Naomi said just over a whisper.

Her lips turned out into a grimace as she thought about what would have happened if Satoshi had been standing in front of it when he pulled it open. There had been so much glass that had burst out that he'd have been cut to ribbons.

"Hurt someone?! You mean 'me'?!" Satoshi's raised voice was high-pitched and scared.

Naomi looked at him, still too immersed in the horror of what could have been to respond. Seeing it in her eyes, Satoshi swallowed back his complaint and fell silent.

"Big Brother, you didn't get cut, did you?" Yuka asked.

Satoshi held up both hands and turned them over for both girls to see. He hadn't been harmed.

"Thank goodness," Yuka breathed.

They walked around the piled glass to the last dresser. It was empty, save for one old key. Satoshi picked up and looked at it in the palm of his hand.

"So which of the many, many locked doors we passed do you think this goes to?" he asked, wearied by the thought of reexamining everything just to find one locked door.

"I have no idea," Naomi said, sounding no more willing than him.

Satoshi pocketed the key and they started back to cover already explored ground.

"Why did we come back up here?"

All three stopped dead at the sound of a very familiar voice's complaint.

"I told you, we have to find the key to those stupid doors. I am _not _going to have you hurting yourself breaking through glass, Kishinuma! If you cut yourself, you could get an infection and we are in no position to help you if you do."

"Ayayay, what are you, my mother?"

"No, I'm your Class Rep. Now get moving. We have rooms to search again."

The bickering sounded like it was coming from the other side of the gap just beyond the last cabinet. Naomi whipped the light around and managed to shine it right in their friends' faces.

"GAAH!" Yoshiki and Ayumi cried as they tried shielding their eyes with her hands.

"Oop! Sorry!" Naomi apologized hastily.

She redirected the beam, accidentally shining it in Satoshi's face this time. He simply shut his eyes and looked away before pushing Naomi's hand down. He opened them again and looked across the way. He could see the flame and _just _see the people using it.

"Mochida! Nakashima! Yuka! Is that you?!" Ayumi called from their side of the chasm.

"Yeah, it's us!" Yuka called back cheerily.

"Are you guys okay?" Satoshi asked.

"Satoshi!" Yoshiki exclaimed, sounding overjoyed.

"Mochida, are you unharmed? Thank God you're all okay!" Ayumi sounded relieved.

In the dark, they missed the quick sidelong glance that first statement got from Yoshiki.

"We're as well off as we can be!" Naomi responded, sounding a little huffy.

"I'm a bit scared, but…" Yuka trailed off. She averted her eyes broodingly.

"Don't suppose you found an exit?" Yoshiki asked pointblank.

"No," Satoshi answered. "And I'm guessing you didn't, either."

Ayumi shook her head.

"You'd be right," she said miserably.

Naomi sighed in disappointment.

"What were you expecting?" she asked herself. "For them to have an exit out of another dimension…"

She stopped that train of thought, coming to the elephant in the room. She looked back at the pair on the other side.

"Kishinuma… Shinozaki…" she called softly.

"Yeah?" Ayumi replied.

Naomi bit her lip nervously.

"There's something we have to tell you…" she said as she started.

A few minutes later, Ayumi and Kishinuma were staring wide eyed at their friends as Naomi finished telling them about the spirit of the girl, Shiho, and of the green fluids that allegedly sucked the life out of you, and of the other ghosts they'd encountered. Yoshiki almost fell back as the crushing weight of this revelation hit him. _Everything_ that had happened made so much more sense.

"Ai… Guys… We've had a couple weird things happen, too," he said.

"Like what?" Satoshi asked somberly.

As he explained the posters, the odd room, the face Ayumi had seen in the dark, and told them about Shinozaki's episodes, Yoshiki could hear her start breathing quickly again, and within a second or two, it was joined by panicked whimpering. He finished quickly.

"And that's the long and short of it. Come on! We better get back to the search!" Yoshiki hastily said.

"Right!" Naomi answered. "Same deal as before. We meet again in a little while."

"Uh…- Uh-huh!" Ayumi weakly vocalized.

"Roger," Yoshiki said, just loudly enough for them to hear.

"Alright, let's move out," Naomi ordered.

As she started to turn, the light's bulb started flickering in and out.

"Oh, no, don't start this! Not now!" she begged it.

She smacked the side of the flashlight a few times, and that seemed to work. Its shine went solid again and it was as bright as before. All three breathed a sigh of relief.

"Nakashima," Ayumi called, warningly

Naomi turned her head back in their direction, confused by the tone.

"Yeah…?" she called, unsure of what the other girl wanted.

"Don't get too close to Mochida," Ayumi blurted angrily.

Four pairs of eyes zeroed in on her oddly.

"Huh? What are you trying to say?!" Naomi asked, both embarrassed and surprised by the implication.

Ayumi just took the candle from Yoshiki.

"What? Hey!" he protested.

She ignored him, turned, and disappeared down the hall without another word. Yoshiki followed after her, protesting some more. This left the other team staring after them into the dark.

"I wonder what that was all about," Satoshi said cluelessly.

Both his younger and Naomi looked at him in utter disbelief at how thick he was being.

* * *

Yui Shishido fretted and paced back and forth in of the shoe cubbies while the police searched the building. The officer they had waiting with her at the front door had tried to calm her down to no avail. Now he just hunkered himself down on a bench and watched her worry herself away.

How could this have happened? They were _upstairs_. She'd only left them for a few moments in her unsuccessful attempt to get the power running again, yet somehow… Yui stopped pacing as she tried to think. She ran her hand down the side of her face as she tried running through the sequence of events again. She'd just come out of the basement when she heard them start screaming bloody murder from the second floor. She went running, and found nothing, absolutely nothing. There was no sign or hint that her students were there and certainly no clue about where they could have gone. Yet they were just vanished. Where could they have gone? _How _could they have gone? Who could have taken them? And why? She had been _so _sure the building was empty save for herself and those five kids.

The dull tap of footsteps from down the hall got Yui's attention. She turned and faced the policewoman who approached her. She was older than Yui be a good ten years and was a stoutly build woman with short black hair and a stern face.

"Did you…?" Yui asked, her voice sounding very small as she clung to the tiny ray of hope that there was something she missed.

The policewoman just shook her head as she halted her footfalls in front of the young teacher.

"Sorry, Miss Shishido, but your students are not here. We're still searching for some kind of lead, but as of right now, those kids are just gone. Are you _sure_, and you have to be absolutely positive about this, that nothing out of the ordinary happened?" the policewoman said to her.

Yui held up her hands helplessly and shook her head for the twelfth time at that question in the last couple hours.

"Just the power going out a couple times. I'd gone down to the basement to look for the fuse box right before my students were attacked!" Yui repeated.

"_Attacked_, you say? That's what you told Captain Kasui. How do you know they were attacked, ma'am?" the officer asked her suspiciously.

"If you'd heard them, you'd have already come to the same conclusion," Yui answered in a shaky voice.

Yui crossed her arms, hugging herself. She stared down at the floor, feeling like she could just cry. She'd never felt so helpless before, not since… No, that had just been a dream she'd had once, a nightmare. The policewoman looked her over, top and bottom, trying to discern any falseness in the teacher's demeanor. Nothing rang phony about Miss Shishido, but that didn't necessarily mean anything.

"In any case, I'm going to have to ask you call their parents again. If they're not home by now, we can probably rule out this being some kind of prank," the officer told her.

Yui looked back up, unable to hide a flash of anger in her eyes. Was this person honestly suggesting that Satoshi and the others disappeared _on purpose_ just to put her through the ringer? That they would attend their classes tomorrow, completely unharmed, and then have a good laugh at her? Her precious students were in some kind of serious danger and these idiots were entertaining ideas of teenage mischief?! The cop obviously caught the look and its meaning, because she spoke up again.

"Ma'am, you would be surprised at the stunts kids pull, even on people they like," she said.

"I'll make those calls," Yui said, wanting to change the subject.

She started towards the principal's office with the policewoman following closely behind her.

"You did instruct them to stay home in case their kids did arrive, as you were told to, correct?" she asked Yui.

Yui turned her head partially to the officer and nodded. When Yui came on the desired door, she knocked on it before entering.

"Come in," the tired voice of the Principal answered.

Yui and the officer entered. Seated at his desk in his casual clothes consisting of a brown sweater and gray sweatpants was the elderly school principal. He'd been called in by the police to be on-site during the duration of the night's investigation. He rubbed some sleep out of his eyes before looking at them expectantly.

"You found them?" he asked.

Yui shook her head sadly. He sighed, though they were uncertain of the emotion behind it. He pushed the phone and the necessary student files towards Yui. She stepped up to the desk and picked up the phone. She flipped open the file for "Kishinuma, Yoshiki", though she had no idea why. Before, they had just hung up on her the instant she mentioned their son's name. Thoroughness, she supposed. The phone rang and rang and Yui thought she was going to get the answering machine when someone picked up.

"Hello?" the voice sounded young, like a little girl's.

"Hello, this is the Kishinuma residence?" Yui asked.

"Yes, Miki speaking. This is Miss Yui, right? Did you find my brother yet?"

"No… Did he come home, by any chance? Has he had any contact with you in the last hour?" Yui asked, though she already knew the answer to that one.

"No, he hasn't come home…" Miki said, despondently.

"Yes, I know, but have you at least heard from him?" Yui pressed.

"Sorry, no. I called his apartment, but nobody answered. Do you need his address?" Miki answered.

"No, it's in his file. The police have already sent a car over there," Yui answered.

"…Okay, and… I'm on the phone with the police, Dad! They're still looking for Big Brother, and…-Hey!"

"This is Kisaragi Academy?" a deep male voice asked.

"Yes, Mr. Kishinuma. Listen to me… You son is missing!" Yui tried to say.

"Do not bother us again! That boy is no longer any of our concern!" Then the phone on the other end slammed down so hard Yui had to yank the phone away from her ear.

She grimaced as it left a slight ringing in her ears. Her gaze trailed down to the floor, saddened by such lack of care of their own flesh and blood. Then she dialed the secondary number in his file, and ended up getting his answering machine. Yui hung up again with a sigh. It was going to be a long, long night. She picked it up again and put it to her ear, about to dial the Mochida residence.

As she pressed it against ear with her shoulder to free both hands, she started to hear a faint crackling coming over the line. She paused and listened for a moment as it grew louder. Her confusion spiked when she could have sworn she heard a voice come over the line.

"Hello?" she said, baffled.

The principal and officer looked at her oddly. She hadn't pressed any of the buttons to dial someone yet.

"_The…ere, i…ce…lately…d…rom….y."_ She managed to hear a few random syllables.

"Hello, who is this?" Yui asked, guardedly.

The static was so bad that she couldn't even discern a gender for the mysterious voice.

"Shishido?" the policewoman asked.

Yui held up a finger to silence her. She needed to hear this. The voice seemed to struggle and babble on inanely for another few moments, before one simple message finally came through clearly:

"_They…are…here…"_


End file.
